Denver had the worst air quality in the US on Tuesday, among worst in the world

DENVER ( KDVR ) — On a normal summer day, you can see the mountains to the west for miles. The past few days, however, Denver’s skies have been hazy and smoky. In fact, the air quality was actually rated the worst in the entire U.S. on Tuesday.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Regional Air Quality Council issued an ozone action day alert due to the elevated levels of particle pollution and ozone coming from wildfire smoke in Canada and out west.

The alert is for those living in the Front Range urban corridor from Douglas County north to Larimer and Weld counties. This area includes the Denver-Boulder area, Fort Collins and Greeley.

One air quality company found that Denver is among the worst in the world for air pollution.

Swiss company IQAir tracks the most polluted large cities in the world in real time. On Tuesday at 11 a.m., IQAir said Denver had the worst air quality in the U.S. among large metropolitan cities. The Mile High City ranked at No. 9 in the world with an AQI score of 88, which indicates moderate quality.

In comparison, the city with the worst air quality in the world at 11 a.m. is Medan, Indonesia with a score of 192, which indicates unhealthy quality.

The air quality continues to fluctuate every minute, and while Denver may drop and rise a few spots in the live tracker, it is still far above the next U.S. city on the list. The next U.S. city that had the worst air quality at 11 a.m. was Salt Lake City, Utah at No. 26 with an AQI of 72.

The ozone alert issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment lasts until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, but the Pinpoint Weather team said it could be extended for the next few days as the wildfire smoke lingers.

By Thursday, the smoke will begin to clear, according to Colorado’s Most Accurate Forecast.

How to stay safe during air quality alert

The National Weather Service has offered the following tips on how to stay safe while the action alert day is in effect.

• Stay inside if possible, especially if you have respiratory concerns or other health problems
• If you must go outside, limit the amount of time you are out to strictly essential activities
• Minimize your use of items that increase pollution, such as cars, gas-powered lawn mowers and other vehicles
• Do not burn debris or other items during an air quality alert

The Pinpoint Weather team is tracking a drying trend this week with very few storms to clear the air. Be sure to keep up with the CDPHE for further air quality alerts.

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