ToClearSkies
🔥 See current wildfires →
Anchorage air right now

GoodAQI 6

Anchorage’s five-day smoke forecast shows the current index and the clearest time ahead.

6
AQI now
1
PM2.5 · µg/m³
Look farther for cleaner air

Where are you?

Search covers Canada and the United States.

The better move within a 3-hour drive

Dates

Dates follow you into hotel searches. Live inventory is confirmed by the provider.

You may already have the cleanest nearby air.No meaningfully cleaner place has a verified road route within 3 hours. Widen the range or show worse air for context.

Every town is also available in the ranked list.
Anchorage Clean · PM2.5 0–5 Good · 5–9 Elevated · 9–15 Polluted · 15–35 Unhealthy · 35–55 Severe · 55+
Top pick
Girdwood
Cel-shaded illustration of Girdwood
AQI 6
#1Girdwood~50 min drive

Alaska· Good

Glacier-valley resort town south of Anchorage at the base of Mount Alyeska, with mountain air off the Chugach and a year-round lodge scene.

Worse air than home. Don't bother.

PM2.5 is 1.1 µg/m³ here vs 1 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 1.1/22 × 7 = 0.4 here; 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
10% worse airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Aug 23, 6:12 p.m. EDT

PM2.5 is estimated for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Cel-shaded illustration of Elmendorf Air Force Base
AQI unavailable
#2Elmendorf Air Force BaseChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Eagle River
Cel-shaded illustration of Eagle River
AQI unavailable
#3Eagle RiverChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a separate live air reading for regional smoke comparisons.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Big Lake
Cel-shaded illustration of Big Lake
AQI unavailable
#4Big LakeChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Knik-Fairview
Cel-shaded illustration of Knik-Fairview
AQI unavailable
#5Knik-FairviewChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a separate live air reading for regional smoke comparisons.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Houston
Cel-shaded illustration of Houston
AQI unavailable
#6HoustonChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Wasilla
Cel-shaded illustration of Wasilla
AQI unavailable
#7WasillaChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a separate live air reading for regional smoke comparisons.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Meadow Lakes
Cel-shaded illustration of Meadow Lakes
AQI unavailable
#8Meadow LakesChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a separate live air reading for regional smoke comparisons.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Tanaina
Cel-shaded illustration of Tanaina
AQI unavailable
#9TanainaChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Gateway
Cel-shaded illustration of Gateway
AQI unavailable
#10GatewayChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Lakes
Cel-shaded illustration of Lakes
AQI unavailable
#11LakesChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Butte
Cel-shaded illustration of Butte
AQI unavailable
#12ButteChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Seward
Cel-shaded illustration of Seward
AQI 3
#13Seward~2 h 45 min drive

Alaska· Good

Harbour town on Resurrection Bay at the edge of Kenai Fjords, wrapped in cold open-water air, with waterfront hotels and cabins.

About the same air — still smoky.

PM2.5 is 0.5 µg/m³ here vs 1 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 0.5/22 × 7 = 0.2 here; 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
50% cleaner airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Aug 23, 6:12 p.m. EDT

PM2.5 is estimated for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Talkeetna
Cel-shaded illustration of Talkeetna
AQI 4
#14Talkeetna~2 h 30 min drive

Alaska· Good

Frontier village at the confluence below Denali, a north-of-Anchorage base with lodges and big-mountain views.

About the same air — still smoky.

PM2.5 is 0.7 µg/m³ here vs 1 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 0.7/22 × 7 = 0.2 here; 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
30% cleaner airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Aug 23, 6:12 p.m. EDT

PM2.5 is estimated for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Valdez
Cel-shaded illustration of Valdez
AQI 7
#15ValdezChecking road route

Alaska· Good

Fjord town on Prince William Sound ringed by glaciers, with cold, clean marine mountain air.

Worse air than home. Don't bother.

PM2.5 is 1.3 µg/m³ here vs 1 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 1.3/22 × 7 = 0.4 here; 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
30% worse airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Aug 23, 6:27 p.m. EDT

PM2.5 is estimated for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Fritz Creek
Cel-shaded illustration of Fritz Creek
AQI unavailable
#16Fritz CreekChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Anchor Point
Cel-shaded illustration of Anchor Point
AQI unavailable
#17Anchor PointChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Cordova
Cel-shaded illustration of Cordova
AQI 4
#18CordovaChecking road route

Alaska· Good

Remote fishing town on Prince William Sound, reachable only by boat or plane, with clean marine air.

About the same air — still smoky.

PM2.5 is 0.7 µg/m³ here vs 1 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 0.7/22 × 7 = 0.2 here; 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
30% cleaner airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Aug 23, 6:27 p.m. EDT

PM2.5 is estimated for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Homer
Cel-shaded illustration of Homer
AQI 5
#19Homer~5 h drive

Alaska· Good

End-of-the-road town on Kachemak Bay with a famous harbour spit, swept by marine air off lower Cook Inlet, with inns and cabins.

About the same air — still smoky.

PM2.5 is 0.9 µg/m³ here vs 1 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 0.9/22 × 7 = 0.3 here; 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
10% cleaner airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Aug 23, 6:12 p.m. EDT

PM2.5 is estimated for this town.

Directions
Still smoky
Deltana
Cel-shaded illustration of Deltana
AQI unavailable
#20DeltanaChecking road route

Alaska

Alaska community with a cached air reading available when it appears in a nearby escape search.

Air comparison pending.

Air comparison pendingChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

PM2.5 is modelled for this town.

Directions
Bad week ahead? Check the 7-day outlook — if it won’t clear, book the trip

7-day outlook

Plan the next seven days

Pick a day, or compare the whole week. Weather is forecast; air quality is the latest available reading.

Loading the week…

Finding the nicest days and reachable cities.

Observed Aug 23, 4:00 p.m. EDTLast scan Aug 23, 6:27 p.m. EDT · 49 min ago

Why live rankings? Smoke plumes are patchy and shift with the wind, so no direction is reliably cleaner. This list is recalculated from live PM2.5 every hour — and if everything nearby is smoky, it says so.

How we work this out →

Browse all 200 cities by province & state →

Air quality in nearby cities →
Whitehorse air qualityPrince George air qualityYellowknife air qualityNanaimo air qualityVancouver air qualityRichmond air qualityBurnaby air qualitySurrey air qualityKamloops air qualityAbbotsford air qualityVictoria air qualityChilliwack air quality

What this means · Anchorage

Good

AQI 6

AQI = Air Quality Index

Typical person. Air quality is satisfactory for most outdoor plans.

Kids, seniors, heart or lung conditions. Unusually sensitive people can still enjoy the outdoors.

The AQI on this page follows fine particles (PM2.5). Particles here are 1 µg/m³ (Natural), so the headline and the particle scale below tell the same story.

Act two · Fine particles only

Where PM2.5 lands

This bar is smoke and fine particles (PM2.5) only. Left is cleaner air; right is heavier particle pollution. Today's particles sit in Natural.

1 µg/m³
Clean · 0Smoky · 40Severe · 80+

Act three · Particle ladder

What each PM2.5 rung feels like

  • 0–3µg/m³Natural. About as clean as outdoor air realistically gets.
  • 3–5µg/m³Clean. Crisp, destination-worthy air.
  • 5–9µg/m³Good. Clean city air; most people will not notice anything today.
  • 9–15µg/m³Elevated. Usually no big deal today; sensitive lungs may notice hard exercise.
  • 15–35µg/m³Polluted. Smoke or traffic pollution is now worth acting on.
  • 35–55µg/m³Unhealthy. Symptoms become more likely, especially with asthma or heart disease.
  • 55+µg/m³Severe. Everyone should reduce exposure and clean the indoor air.

Act four · Felt number

Cigarettes a week

A secondary feel for the particle load only — not a medical claim, and not a substitute for AQI.

0.3/wk

What is PM2.5?

Fine particles about 30× thinner than a human hair — small enough to slip through your lungs and into your bloodstream. We measure them inµg/m³: micrograms of particle mass in a cubic metre of air.

The math

PM2.5 here is 1 µg/m³.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at this level: 1/22 × 7 = 0.3 cigarettes.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
See the full method →