The next 24 hours
What the air does next in Prineville.
Prineville, OR has wildfire smoke now — AQI 273, Very Unhealthy — peaking at AQI 273 this morning, and clearing this evening. Numbers below are the US air quality scale — under 50 is clean, over 100 is worth taking seriously.
Prototype run. This build is generated from the captured fixture, whose tiles hold only forecast hours 1, 12, 13 rather than every hour. A production run publishes dense tiles and this page renders 24 columns.
- Good
- Moderate
- Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
- Unhealthy
- Very Unhealthy
- Hazardous
| Time (local) | Ahead | Smoke µg/m³ | Air quality | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 7 Aug, 06:00 PDT | +1h | 198.6 | 273 | Very Unhealthy |
| Fri 7 Aug, 17:00 PDT | +12h | 12.7 | 58 | Moderate |
| Fri 7 Aug, 18:00 PDT | +13h | 6.2 | 34 | Good |
What you are looking at
Plain answers, from public data.
Wildfire smoke is forecast the same way rain is. Here is where the numbers come from and what they mean.
Who measures it
NOAA, the US weather service.
The same government agency that forecasts hurricanes runs a smoke model for the whole country. It updates every hour and it is free and public. Smaze reads it and does nothing to it except make it readable.
This map: NOAA NDGD for smoke, NOAA HRRR for wind. Fire locations come from NIFC and are an app feature.
What it shows
Two different things.
Air quality is the smoke down where you breathe. That is the number that matters for going outside.
Sky smoke is all the smoke above you, all the way up. That is why the sun can look orange on a day the air is fine.
Surface PM2.5 in micrograms per cubic metre, and total column smoke in milligrams per square metre.
How to read it
Brighter means more smoke.
On the map, dark is clear air and bright orange is heavy smoke. The blue lines are the wind, showing which way it is pushing.
For air quality we use the US AQI — the same 0-500 scale on every weather app. Under 50 is fine. Over 100, sensitive people should take it easy. Over 150 affects everyone.
EPA breakpoint table, computed from surface PM2.5.
This is a forecast, not a measurement — the same as a rain forecast. It can be wrong. For official air quality readings and health advice, see AirNow.
Coming soon · iPhone
The whole picture, on your phone.
This page shows the next 3 hours for Prineville, OR. The app shows three days, and everything around them.
- 01Three days aheadSee exactly when smoke reaches you and when it lifts, hour by hour.
- 02Live firesWhere the fires actually are right now, so you know what is making the smoke.
- 03Wind forecastWhich way the air is moving, so you can see where the smoke goes next.
- 04On your Lock ScreenYour places at a glance. No app to open, no tapping around.
- 05A heads-up before it hitsA notification when smoke is forecast to reach somewhere you care about.
- 06No account, no trackingNo sign-up, no ads, no data collected. One purchase, yours forever.
One email when it ships. Nothing else, ever. Handled by Formspree — see privacy.
Questions
Questions people actually ask.
When will wildfire smoke clear in Prineville, OR?
Smoke is forecast to drop below AQI 100 at 17:00 PDT on Friday 7 August, 12 hours into the current run.
Is wildfire smoke coming to Prineville, OR?
Smoke is already present. No new smoke arrival above AQI 100 is forecast in the next 24 hours.
How bad will the smoke get in Prineville, OR?
The forecast peak is AQI 273 (Very Unhealthy), 198.6 µg/m³ PM2.5, at 06:00 PDT on Friday 7 August.
Why is the sky orange when the air quality says it is fine?
Because they are two different things. Most of the smoke can be high above you, colouring the light, while the air down at street level is still clean. The map calls the first one sky smoke and the second one air quality, and you can switch between them.
Where do these Prineville, OR numbers come from?
NOAA — the US government weather service. They run a smoke model for the whole country and publish it free, every hour. Smaze reads that forecast, looks up the value for this exact spot, and converts it to the standard US air quality scale. Nothing is added or adjusted.
How accurate is it?
It is a forecast, so treat it like a rain forecast: reliable about what is coming and roughly when, less exact about the precise number at a precise hour. The further ahead you look, the less certain it gets. For official measured readings, use AirNow.
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