ToClearSkies

Live readout · Observed Jul 22, 10:12 a.m. EDT

Kids, seniors & asthma: limit time outside

Yellowknife is breathing 12 cigarettes a week

Nothing cleaner nearby How we count it →

Living with this as normal air would materially raise heart and lung disease risk.

37.7
PM2.5 µg/m³
106
US AQI
Sensitive
Category
64.3
Cleanest in reach · µg/m³
Look farther for cleaner air

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The better move within a 3-hour drive

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Every town is also available in the ranked list.
Yellowknife Low smoke · AQI 0–50 Some pollution · AQI 51–100 Unhealthy (sensitive) · AQI 101–150 Unhealthy+ · AQI 151+
Top pick
Behchokǫ̀
Cel-shaded illustration of Behchokǫ̀
#1Behchokǫ̀Unhealthy · AQI 157Checking road route

Northwest Territories· PM2.5 64.3 µg/m³

Tłı̨chǫ community on Great Slave Lake's north arm west of Yellowknife, a separate air reading across the lake country.

Worse air than home. Don't bother.

PM2.5 is 64.3 µg/m³ here vs 37.7 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at these levels: 64.3/22 × 7 = 20 here; 37.7/22 × 7 = 12 at home.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →

Air is currently worse here than in Yellowknife

71% worse airChecking trip easeChecking nearby staysChecking today's weather

Observed Jul 22, 10:27 a.m. EDT

PM2.5 is modelled for this town — no monitoring station is close enough for a live AQHI.

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AQHI 9: High risk (Yellowknife)Observed Jul 22, 10:12 a.m. EDTLast scan Jul 22, 10:27 a.m. EDT · 34 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 →

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What this means · Yellowknife

Geez!

12cigarettes

per week, if this air holds

Act two · The scale

Where today lands

From a crisp horizon to smoke you can taste — here’s your reading on it.

37.7 µg/m³
CrispSome smokeHeavy smoke

Act three · The ladder

What each rung feels like

  • 0–3µg/m³Natural air. About as clean as outdoor air realistically gets.
  • 3–5µg/m³Exceptionally clean. Crisp, destination-worthy air.
  • 5–9µg/m³Good, not pristine. 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 for sensitive. Symptoms become more likely, especially with asthma or heart disease.
  • 55+µg/m³Unhealthy. Everyone should reduce exposure and clean the indoor air.

Act four · The fine print

The receipts

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 37.7 µg/m³.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.A week at this level: 37.7/22 × 7 = 12 cigarettes.A long-term health-risk equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
See the full method →