Is the Air Smoky Today?

The area-wide air quality for Whitehorse right now — especially on wildfire-smoke days — in plain language, with Environment Canada's official health index.

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About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Whitehorse and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Right now

Good Air quality is satisfactory and pollution poses little or no risk — no reason to change any plans.

Air quality index · US Air Quality Index (EPA)

US scale: under 50 is good, over 100 is unhealthy for sensitive groups

0.3 µg/m³

Fine particles (PM2.5)

The pollutant that matters most for health

0.7 µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide

Mostly from traffic

54.0 µg/m³

Ozone

Forms on hot, sunny days

Day

Air quality

Tue, Oct 13

Good

Wed, Oct 14

Good

Thu, Oct 15

Good

Fri, Oct 16

Good

Worth knowing

Smoke is the thing to watch here

Whitehorse's worst air almost always comes from wildfire smoke — from fires in the Yukon or drifting in from across the North and BC. The huge 2024 season smoked in much of the North, and the summers since have brought repeated smoke and evacuation alerts around the territory. On a smoky day: close windows, ease off hard outdoor exercise, and check on older neighbours, young kids, and anyone with heart or lung conditions.

Two scales, one goal

This page shows the European air-quality index from a global atmosphere model (Copernicus CAMS) — a good area-wide estimate, not a street monitor. Canada's official health index is the AQHI (1 to 10+), published by Environment and Climate Change Canada with specific advice for Whitehorse. When the two disagree on a bad-air day, trust the AQHI — the link is at the bottom of this page.

The local smoke picture is more detailed than any one model

Yukon has added air-quality monitors around Whitehorse, including south of downtown. On a smoke day, Yukon.ca's wildfire-smoke page carries those community sensor readings and a 48-hour smoke forecast showing where the smoke is likely to drift next — often more useful, street to street, than a single modelled number.

Why there's no pollen panel

The pollen model behind this tool only covers Europe, so we don't show pollen figures for Whitehorse rather than show numbers we can't stand behind.

Is the Air Smoky Today?

About these tools

Right now

Next few days

Worth knowing

Smoke is the thing to watch here

Two scales, one goal

The local smoke picture is more detailed than any one model

Why there's no pollen panel