Air Quality Colorado Map (2024)

FAQs

What is one of the worst cities in Colorado for air quality right now? ›

Greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks are Colorado's biggest contribution to climate change, as well as contributing to our ozone problem and adding to pollution in the communities most impacted.

The 2023 “State of the Air” found that year-round particle pollution levels in Colorado were slightly worse overall than in last year's report, but all counties earned passing grades. Two Colorado cities ranked among the cleanest cities nationally in this category, Colorado Springs (9^th) and Grand Junction (12^th).

The American Lung Association ranks the Denver metro area sixth in the nation for poor air quality.

The state of Hawaii boasts the cleanest average air in the entire U.S., at an AQI of 21.2. Even Hawaii's biggest city, Honolulu, ranks on the cleanest cities for lists for ozone, short-term particle pollution, and year-round particle pollution.

"Climate change is driving these increases in fires in the west." The haze in Colorado is largely coming from wildfires currently burning in Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

Los Angeles air pollution

Los Angeles has the most contaminated air in the country.

Cañon City has some of the mildest weather in Colorado, but why is that? Geographically speaking, it sits at an elevation of 5,300 feet – lower than Colorado Springs and a little higher than Pueblo.

The Comanche 3 coal unit is Colorado's largest coal unit at 750 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. In 2021, Comanche 3 emitted 4.2 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making it Colorado's largest source of carbon dioxide emissions.

Do you think the air in Colorado is humid or dry? ›

Colorado's position far inland and great distance from any large bodies of water, results in a usually dry climate. Also, because there are no oceans to moderate daily and seasonal temperatures, Colorado typically has hot summers and cold winters with relatively large temperature differences throughout each day.

Denver's air quality is primarily challenged by ozone pollution formed from precursor pollutants emitted by motor vehicles (mobile sources) and the oil and gas industry (stationary sources).

By the numbers: The three-year rolling annual average concentration of fine particle pollution across the Denver area was 8.1 micrograms per cubic meter as of 2021 compared to 6.7 in 2015 — a 21% increase, though still below the national average of 8.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

Smoke from wildfires burning in Oregon, Washington and Canada is blowing into Colorado and is expected to keep the skies hazy for a few days, federal meteorologists and public health officials said.

Boulder County's air quality is complex because it is located where the following meet: The heavily urbanized City of Denver. Weld County oil and gas development. The rural wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.