Air Pollution Forecasts

The forecasts on this page are for tonight from 6pm to midnight. Forecasts are issued by Blueskies Weather each day at around 8am and may be updated by 5pm.

Christchurch

Timaru

Kaiapoi

Rangiora

Ashburton

Air pollution (PM₁₀) forecasts are issued from 1 May to 31 August for Christchurch, Timaru, Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Ashburton. As this type of air pollution is mainly caused by home heating by wood and coal, high air pollution nights (days over 50 μg/m3) very rarely happen outside this period.

In winter, air pollution levels can get high when smoke from chimneys doesn’t get blown away and is trapped under an inversion layer. This happens during still, cold and often frosty nights. This dependence on weather conditions makes air pollution forecasts, such as those displayed on this page, possible.

Icon Explanations

This means weather conditions forecast for tonight are likely to result in high air pollution. If possible, please don't light your fire.

This means weather conditions forecast for tonight may result in high air pollution. If possible, please don't light your fire.

This means weather conditions forecast for tonight are unlikely to result in high air pollution.