Live Air Quality Monitor Data Sources

The San Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District (APCD) measures and records air quality conditions at several monitoring stations in the Nipomo area at the locations shown on the map to the right. The mobile station’s location is changed from time to time. Current air quality readings from these sites can be viewed via the APCD website, Air Quality Conditions. Separate tabs are provided to “Display AQI”, “Display Concentration” or “Display 2-Day Trend”. In each tabbed display, select the type of data and choose today or yesterday. Wind vectors selection is optional. On the map displays, click on a monitoring site circle to see the current reading for that site. The prevailing on-shore winds during high PM emission events are northwesterly. The CDF monitor at the CalFire station on Highway 1 and the Mesa 2 monitor down wind of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA) active riding areas. The Oso Flaco monitor is down wind of the non-riding area and is the control site for determining how natural background dust levels compare to the dust levels emitted from the riding area. The website AirNow , operated by the US Government, provides AQI maps and current air quality data. The AirNow National Map lists the highest and lowest AQI locations in the USA. For the current and forecast AQI for Nipomo, click the Nipomo AirNow AQI Quick Link button above.

Air Quality Forecasts and Alerts

The APCD provides a summary 6-Day Air Quality Forecast on the South County Air Quality page. Forecasts for each monitoring station are on the Air Quality Maps page. To sign up to receive APCD air quality forecast alerts, click here . The AirNow website also provides AQI forecast maps. You can also sign up through AirNow to subscribe to EnviroFlash air quality alert notifications.

Historical Air Quality Data

Historical air quality data is available from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) using its Air Quality Data (PST) Query Tool . Select parameter PM2.5 or PM10 (BAM) and San Luis Obispo to get PM data for the Nipomo-Guadalupe area. The data comes from the same monitors shown on the map above, but the names are different, as follows: CARB NAME APCD NAME Arroyo Grande-2391 Willow Road CDF Nipomo-Guadalupe Road   Mesa 2 Nipomo-Oso Flaco Lake Road   Oso Flaco