Air quality and UV in La Porte

Updated live · UV from the EPA and the Weather Service · Air quality is a computer-model estimate, labeled as one · For official alerts, see the Emergency view.

Pollen

We don't show a pollen count. There's no free, public pollen measurement for La Porte County, and the free pollen forecast we checked (Open-Meteo's, from Europe's CAMS model) only covers Europe. Rather than guess, we'll add pollen when there's a real number to show.

What the numbers mean

The Air Quality Index (AQI) runs from 0 to 500. Up to 50 is good, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 150 unhealthy for sensitive groups (people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens), 151 to 200 unhealthy, and above that very unhealthy or hazardous. In La Porte County the numbers to watch are summer ozone on hot, sunny afternoons and smoke from far-off wildfires, which can turn the sky milky for days.

Our air-quality number is an estimate from Open-Meteo's free service, which runs Europe's Copernicus (CAMS) air-quality model for the grid square over La Porte. It isn't a monitor reading, and it can miss a local smoke plume or an ozone spike. The official readings and forecasts are on AirNow ↗; the nearest areas it forecasts for are South Bend and Hammond–Gary. When the air is bad, the Weather Service and the state issue an Air Quality Alert, which shows up on our Emergency view and on Storm Radar.

The UV Index is the EPA's official forecast for ZIP code 46350, made with the Weather Service: 0 to 2 low, 3 to 5 moderate, 6 to 7 high, 8 to 10 very high, 11 and up extreme. Sun protection is a good idea at 3 or more. In La Porte the UV Index usually tops out around 8 or 9 in June and July and 1 or 2 in December.

Sources: EPA: UV Index · AirNow: AQI basics · Open-Meteo Air Quality API (CAMS, CC BY 4.0)