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Cape Town air quality

South Africa · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 02:00 local time

83

Moderate

US AQI, mostly PM2.5

Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.

Next 24 hours
57–83US AQI, highest around Sun 02:00
Best time outside
Sun 17:00–20:00US AQI about 57
PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
0.8×12 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
Cigarette equivalent
≈ 0.6 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
European AQI
Fairlevel 2 of 6

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The live globe, centred on Cape Town. Switch pollutants, drag through the next 5 days or press play. Full map →

Pollutants in Cape Town right now

PollutantNowNext 24 h vs WHOUS AQI band
Fine particles (PM2.5) 10 µg/m³ 0.8× Moderate
Coarse particles (PM10) 17 µg/m³ 0.4× Good
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 3.1 µg/m³ 0.1× Good
Ozone (O3) 56 µg/m³ 0.7× Good
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 2.8 µg/m³ 0.1× Good
Carbon monoxide (CO) 92 µg/m³ 0.0× Good
Desert dust0 µg/m³
Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth)0.08
UV index0.0

“Next 24 h vs WHO” compares the forecast with the World Health Organization’s 2021 guideline levels: 24-hour means of 15 µg/m³ for PM2.5, 45 for PM10, 25 for NO2, 40 for SO2 and 4 mg/m³ for CO, and 100 µg/m³ over 8 hours for ozone. Above 1× is above the guideline.

Next 48 hours

Hourly US AQI. Highest 83 around Sun 02:00, lowest 56 around Mon 11:00.

Good 0–50Moderate 51–100Sensitive 101–150Unhealthy 151–200Very unhealthy 201–300Hazardous 301+

5-day air quality forecast for Cape Town

Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 300.

DayUS AQIAt worstWorst hourPM2.5 avgUV max
Sun 27 Sept 57–87 Moderate 0:00 13 7.3
Mon 28 Sept 56–57 Moderate 0:00 12 6.5
Tue 29 Sept 54–66 Moderate 23:00 18 8.0
Wed 30 Sept 67–300 Very unhealthy 17:00 96 7.9
Thu 1 Oct 164–188 Unhealthy 0:00 31 7.0

Common questions about the air in Cape Town

  1. Is the air in Cape Town safe today?

    For most people, yes. Right now the US AQI in Cape Town is 83, which counts as moderate. Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.

  2. When is the best time to be outside in Cape Town?

    Sun 17:00–20:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 57. The worst hour is around Sun 02:00, at 83.

  3. What is the main pollutant in Cape Town?

    Fine particles (PM2.5). It drives the index right now, at 10 µg/m³. Tiny particles from combustion, fires and dust that reach deep into the lungs. The main driver of AQI worldwide.

  4. How does Cape Town's air compare with the WHO guideline?

    Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 12 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The other pollutants stay within their guideline levels.

  5. How many cigarettes is a day of Cape Town's air?

    About 0.6 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 12 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.

  6. Will air quality in Cape Town improve this week?

    Monday looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 57, against 300 on Wednesday, the worst day in the forecast.

Air quality near Cape Town

All 161 cities

About this forecast

Forecast from CAMS global via Open-Meteo: the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) model at about 40 km resolution (10 km inside Europe), refreshed twice a day. Models smooth out street-level peaks, so busy roads and industrial sites can be worse than shown; ground stations, where there are any nearby, show what monitors actually measure. The US AQI follows the US EPA scale and the European AQI the EEA bands. Readings for 33.92°S, 18.42°E, updated 2026-09-27 00:00 UTC.