PM2.5 Forecast for Beijing – Friday, December 6, 2013

Thursday was certainly a good surprise as we saw several hours with Good air quality when we expected to see Unhealthy or worse conditions.  Friday looks to be less spectacular, likely bringing us the Unhealthy and Very Unhealthy air quality we were expecting for Thursday.  Look for increasing PM2.5 levels through the early morning hours, then one of the weather forecasts shows a chance that levels could drop somewhat around late morning.  But an alternative weather forecast has us continuing to see slightly increasing PM2.5 through the morning and afternoon, and both weather forecasts predict conditions that will increase the accumulation of pollution more quickly in the evening hours. 

UPDATE – Our prediction with overlay of actual readings:

PM2.5 Forecast for Beijing – Thursday, December 5, 2013

Thursday should be another day with highly variable air quality, but we're expecting the PM2.5 levels to be higher overall than the past few days.  We should see a general increasing trend before sunrise, decreasing between sunrise and about noon, then increasing pollution for the afternoon and evening.  Look for PM2.5 levels to put us at Unhealthy or Very Unhealthy for nearly the entire day. 

UPDATE – Our prediction with overlay of actual readings:

 

PM2.5 Forecast for Beijing – Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Yet again, we're looking at a roller coaster of a day for air quality in Beijing.  We've been at Very Unhealthy pollution levels on Tuesday evening, and we expect the pollution levels to remain high for a bit after midnight.  But sometime at or before sunrise, we should see the PM2.5 levels start to drop, reaching the lowest point of the day somewhere between about 9AM and 3PM.  With a wide range of wind conditions predicted, this low could be anywhere between Good and Unhealthy air quality.  Once we've hit the day's low point, we expect PM2.5 levels to begin rising again, fairly quickly, through the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

UPDATE – Our prediction with overlay of actual readings:

PM2.5 Forecast for Beijing – Tuesday, December 3, 2013

On Tuesday, we're expecting remarkable improvement in our air quality.  After midnight, look for falling PM2.5 levels, and we should make it down into the Good/Moderate range sometime before noon.  The rest of the day should also have good air quality, but there is a slight chance that we will see PM2.5 begin to accumulate again after sunset. 

UPDATE – Our prediction with overlay of actual readings: