Melbourne air quality
Victoria, Australia · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 09:00 local time
Good
Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
- Next 24 hours
- 37–43US AQI, highest around Sun 13:00
- Best time outside
- Mon 01:00–4:00US AQI about 37
- PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
- 0.5×7.4 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
- Cigarette equivalent
- ≈ 0.3 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
- European AQI
- Fairlevel 2 of 6
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Pollutants in Melbourne right now
| Pollutant | Now | Next 24 h vs WHO | US AQI band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 7.2 µg/m³ | 0.5× | Good |
| Coarse particles (PM10) | 11 µg/m³ | 0.2× | Good |
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 4.6 µg/m³ | 0.4× | Good |
| Ozone (O3) | 45 µg/m³ | 0.6× | Good |
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 3.3 µg/m³ | 0.1× | Good |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 75 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Desert dust | 0 µg/m³ | ||
| Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth) | 0.08 | ||
| UV index | 2.4 |
“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 58 around Tue 03:00, lowest 37 around Mon 01:00.
5-day air quality forecast for Melbourne
Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 150.
| Day | US AQI | At worst | PM2.5 avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 27 Sept | 38–50 | 6.8 | ||
| Mon 28 Sept | 37–53 | 11 | ||
| Tue 29 Sept | 45–58 | 7.3 | ||
| Wed 30 Sept | 24–40 | 4.9 | ||
| Thu 1 Oct | 27–31 | 5.1 |
Common questions about the air in Melbourne
Is the air in Melbourne safe today?
Yes. Right now the US AQI in Melbourne is 41, which counts as good. Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
When is the best time to be outside in Melbourne?
Mon 01:00–4:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 37. The worst hour is around Sun 13:00, at 43.
What is the main pollutant in Melbourne?
Fine particles (PM2.5). It drives the index right now, at 7.2 µg/m³. Tiny particles from combustion, fires and dust that reach deep into the lungs. The main driver of AQI worldwide.
How does Melbourne's air compare with the WHO guideline?
Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 7.4 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The other pollutants stay within their guideline levels.
How many cigarettes is a day of Melbourne's air?
About 0.3 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 7.4 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.
Will air quality in Melbourne improve this week?
Thursday looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 31, against 58 on Tuesday, the worst day in the forecast.
Measured near Melbourne
| Station | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 2.0 | Sun 09:47 |
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 1.0 | Sun 09:47 |
Air quality near Melbourne
- Canberra 467 km NE
- Adelaide 654 km NW
- Sydney 713 km NE
- Brisbane 1,374 km NE
- Auckland 2,626 km E
- Perth 2,722 km W
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 37.81°S, 144.96°E, updated 2026-09-26 23:00 UTC.