Air pollution: why it makes us sick and ways to stay protected. 0 - 50. Our daily forecast provides you with information on air quality over the next several days and its impact on your health. An index of 100 to 150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups, and over 150 is unhealthy for everyone. All communities deserve the right to healthy, clean air. Everything you need for tracking hurricane season, Provides winter weather forecasts and the winter weather outlook for your area, Visit our Corporate Site for more info on AccuWeather, Download our free award-winning apps for Superior Accuracy™ on the go, Explore More, Dive Deeper, Analyze Faster with AccuWeather Premium, Specialized Weather Centers, More of Everything with AccuWeather Professional. Ventilation in general can be counterproductive as it can lift harmful particles that have settled to the ground and put them back into air. “With hundreds of people coming in and out of the doors each day, smoky air does get inside the hospital,” spokeswoman Lisa Helderop said. One of 50 to 100 is moderate. Part of HuffPost News. They’re not on site.”. Our daily forecast provides you with information on air quality over the next several days and its impact on your health. Follow live updates. Zoom in on your neighborhood to see where air quality is excellent or dangerous or zoom out to see air quality across the world. California adopted a new standard in 2018 that requires employers to provide workers with N-95 respirators and make workplace modifications if wildfire sends the local AQI higher than 150. Improvements to Portland air quality must therefore strive to manage both PM2.5 and ozone precursors. Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications. Monitors Near Me Recent Trends. Everything you need for tracking hurricane season, Provides winter weather forecasts and the winter weather outlook for your area, Visit our Corporate Site for more info on AccuWeather, Download our free award-winning apps for Superior Accuracy™ on the go, Explore More, Dive Deeper, Analyze Faster with AccuWeather Premium, Specialized Weather Centers, More of Everything with AccuWeather Professional. Particles that are larger than 2.5 micrometers can be deposited in airways, resulting in health issues. Winter wood burning restrictions. With air quality plummeting in some parts of the country, it's wise to have a device that can help clean the air you and your family breathe in your home. Our air quality forecast chart breaks down the quality of the air on an hour-by-hour scale, allowing you to visualize the trends in air quality and plan your outdoor activities. Real-time levels and forecasts of Particulate Matter (PM2.5, PM10), Ozone (O3) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in Portland, OR. Particle pollution spikes during these months have caused Portland to rank among the top 25 cities with the most short-term particulate pollution, according to the ALA’s 2019 report. The potential impacts have grown more serious as the very nature of wildfire pollution has changed. Get air quality data where you live. Air Quality Index (AQI) & Health. In doing so, Portland had a rare glimpse into the impact reduced traffic emissions could have on the city’s air quality. All rights reserved. More frequent and excessive exposure can result in more serious health effects. The State of Oregon currently seeks to add 3.3 million zero emission vehicles by 2025 and hopes that all vehicles will be zero-emission by 2050.6 Such changes will result in drastic improvements to Portland’s air quality. Study: More people of color live near Portland’s biggest air polluters. “But we have filters made for hospitals that are efficient at cleaning the air and keeping particulate levels low.”. More often, PM2.5 spikes are the result of domestic wood burning and cool air inversions in the winter. Track air pollution now to help plan your day and make healthier lifestyle decisions. But you're going to need a lot of them -- and the right types, like these five low-maintenance plants. Very easy to set up, they only require a WIFI access point and a USB power supply. Hurricane Delta to strengthen as it tracks across Gulf of Mexico. Exposure can result in coughing or difficulty breathing, aggravated asthma, and the development of chronic respiratory disease. Health effects can be immediately felt by sensitive groups. In Portland, each season brings unique pollution challenges. [1] American Lung Association. Today. Particulate Matter are inhalable pollutant particles with a diameter less than 10 micrometers. Subscribe to OregonLive. Our current air quality index (AQI) provides information on the quality of air that you are breathing and its impact on your health. Meanwhile, ozone, a secondary pollutant, only becomes problematic in the summer, when abundant sunshine and heat create ideal conditions for its formation. As deadly wildfires continue to ravage the West Coast, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco have also recorded some of the world's worst air pollution. Providence officials said its hospitals already have filters in place that clean the air and that air quality has always been within acceptable levels. Zoom in on your neighborhood to see where air quality is excellent or dangerous or zoom out to see air quality across the world. Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) 151 - 200. How to know when air quality is poor and what to do about it. Exposure can result in coughing or difficulty breathing, aggravated asthma, and the development of chronic respiratory disease. Did you know air quality awareness week is in May? Repeated long-term exposure can lead to heart disease. AirNow.gov. 101 - 150. A study conducted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found that COVID-19 restrictions led to 40 percent less traffic on the I-5, a 60 percent drop in nitrogen oxides( an ozone precursor pollutant), and a 25 percent drop in black carbon (PM2.5 soot).5. The blaze traveled from wild lands to the small town of Paradise, killing 85 people and sending a toxic brew of new chemicals into the giant plume of smoke. Our air quality forecast chart breaks down the quality of the air on an hour-by-hour scale, allowing you to visualize the trends in air quality and plan your outdoor activities. It opened its parking lots to employees living in their RVs and also made its patient family guest house open to employees in need of temporary housing. Fine Particulate Matter are inhalable pollutant particles with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers that can enter the lungs and bloodstream, resulting in serious health issues. Portland: AQI (US) 70 Moderate, Pollen 1.8 Low. Air Quality Awareness Week: air quality facts you need to know. [2] Current Results. Reduce time spent outside if you are feeling symptoms such as difficulty breathing or throat irritation. Values above 500 are beyond the AQI scale. The information associated with the air quality maps are as real-time as possible and are displayed as soon as practical upon transmission to us, including current index, forecast, daily and hourly air quality data. Despite this success, Portland’s air pollution levels have been climbing since 2016. Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) 151 - 200. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians of Oregon, American Lung Association (ALA) of Oregon, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Email. Check out our guide to know if your indoor air is too dry and learn how to get better home air quality this winter. In 2019, Portland’s most polluted months were November and December (respectively), with PM2.5 concentrations of 18.4 μg/m3 and 17.1 μg/m3 (three times the average PM2.5 concentration of summer months). This story has been updated to reflect Saturday’s data. + Article Resources Portland temperatures: Averages by month. Exposure can result in eye and throat irritation, coughing or difficulty breathing, and aggravated asthma. KGW. A Multnomah County ordinance passed in January 2018 seeks to reduce the impact of wood burning in the winter by enforcing a ban based on Portland’s live air quality conditions. Portland set a new record on Sept. 13 of 477 AQI, more than triple the previous historic high. Let AccuWeather help you personalize your day-to-day forecasts, to help you better know how to plan your day, and your outdoor activities. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. The concerning trend coincides with a growing population and number of vehicles on the road, numerous EPA regulatory rollbacks, warming global temperatures, and more frequent and severe wildfires. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Fine Particulate Matter are inhalable pollutant particles with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers that can enter the lungs and bloodstream, resulting in serious health issues.