Montana Now Has Some of the Worst Air Quality in the World

It's true. Right now, large parts of Montana are suffering from dangerously high Air Quality Index (AQI) numbers - much worse than Uganda, Indonesia, or India. Wildfire smoke has darkened the Big Sky Country with a thick haze.

According to IQair.com major cities across the world had the following AQI numbers, and you'll see further down that Montana towns have far worse numbers at the moment.

According to the DEQ: "The AQI is based on a scale from 0–500, with higher values indicating greater pollution and health concerns. When the AQI is above 100, air quality is unhealthy, and people at higher risk should stay indoors."

• Lahore, Pakistan: AQI 171
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates: AQI166
• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: AQI 164
• Sao Paulo, Brazil: AQI 157
• Kampala, Uganda: AQI 154
• Jakarta, Indonesia: AQI 151
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan: AQI 144
• Delhi, India: AQI 137
• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: AQI 132
• Cairo City, Egypt: AQI 119

NOTE: Air Quality Index numbers can change rapidly from day to day, but the last few days have been particularly poor for many Montana towns. (Numbers can actually fluctuate drastically throughout one day depending on wind, etc.)

Air Quality Alerts have been issued for dozens of Montana counties due to wildfire smoke from out-of-state AND in-state fires. (See details below.)

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• Big Sky, MT: AQI 209
• Great Falls, MT: AQI 236
• Missoula, MT: AQI 207
• Victor, MT: AQI 205
• Arlee, MT: AQI 199
• Stevensville, MT: AQI 219
• Bozeman, MT: AQI 185
• Helena, MT: AQI 177

• AN AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FOR MONTANA
• WHAT: The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality alert for many counties across the state of Montana
• WHERE: Broadwater, Cascade, Deer Lodge, Granite, Jefferson, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders, Silver Bow, and Teton counties
• WHEN: in effect through 9/10/2024 due to elevated particulate levels from wildfire smoke