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Kathmandu air quality

Nepal · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 04:45 local time

54

Moderate

US AQI, mostly O3

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

Next 24 hours
50–66US AQI, highest around Mon 03:00
Best time outside
Sun 10:00–13:00US AQI about 50
PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
1.2×18 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
Cigarette equivalent
≈ 0.8 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
European AQI
Fairlevel 2 of 6

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

Pollutants in Kathmandu right now

PollutantNowNext 24 h vs WHOUS AQI band
Fine particles (PM2.5) 5.6 µg/m³ 1.2× Good
Coarse particles (PM10) 5.9 µg/m³ 0.4× Good
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 4.0 µg/m³ 0.5× Good
Ozone (O3) 76 µg/m³ 0.9× Good
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 1.6 µg/m³ 0.1× Good
Carbon monoxide (CO) 258 µg/m³ 0.2× Good
Desert dust1 µg/m³
Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth)0.34
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 88 around Tue 03:00, lowest 50 around Sun 11:00.

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

5-day air quality forecast for Kathmandu

Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 150.

DayUS AQIAt worstWorst hourPM2.5 avgUV max
Sun 27 Sept 50–57 Moderate 23:00 14 5.5
Mon 28 Sept 59–86 Moderate 21:00 28 7.0
Tue 29 Sept 87–90 Moderate 8:00 29 6.6
Wed 30 Sept 86–97 Moderate 16:00 31 8.0
Thu 1 Oct 90–108 Sensitive 16:00 29 6.9

Common questions about the air in Kathmandu

  1. Is the air in Kathmandu safe today?

    For most people, yes. Right now the US AQI in Kathmandu is 54, 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 Kathmandu?

    Sun 10:00–13:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 50. The worst hour is around Mon 03:00, at 66.

  3. What is the main pollutant in Kathmandu?

    Ozone (O3). It drives the index right now, at 76 µg/m³. Formed by sunlight acting on traffic and plant emissions. Highest on hot, still afternoons, often downwind of cities.

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

    1.2 times the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 18 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 Kathmandu's air?

    About 0.8 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 18 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 Kathmandu improve this week?

    Today looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 57, against 108 on Thursday, the worst day in the forecast.

Measured near Kathmandu

StationDistancePM2.5 µg/m³Measured
Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor 1.6 km 1.5 Sun 05:33
Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor 3.4 km 1.1 Sun 05:33

Air quality near Kathmandu

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 27.72°N, 85.32°E, updated 2026-09-26 23:00 UTC.