SmogRank / Episodes / United States

Northern United States, July 2026

For 2 days, from 4 to 5 July 2026, 10 cities in the United States had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Omaha, Nebraska, United States: 85.3 µg/m³ on 5 July, about 11× its usual 7.5.

Likely Independence Day fireworksIt came on 4 and 5 July, when fireworks smoke fills the air over many US cities at once.
Cities reached10in 1 country
Days24 to 5 July 2026
Worst day5 July10 cities counted
Furthest above usual12×La Vista

Day by day

5 July 10 cities at twice their usual or more
Saint JosephOlatheLeawoodLibertyDerbyAnkenyGrand IslandColumbiaSpringfieldIowa CityCedar RapidsMuscatineArnoldDavenportUniversity CityMolineLemaySt. LouisClintonWichitaRaymoreKansas CityTopekaDes MoinesKansas CityBellevueLincolnOmahaLa Vista
1 Jul2345678
Every measured city in the area, coloured by its PM2.5 that day; a dark ring marks a city at twice its usual or more. Bars: cities counted each day, coloured by their median level. Choose a day or press play; without JavaScript, the days link to that day's world ranking.

How it spread

LincolnLincoln, 1 July: 17.0 µg/m³, 2.6× usualLincoln, 2 July: 8.3 µg/m³, 1.3× usualLincoln, 3 July: 10.5 µg/m³, 1.6× usualLincoln, 4 July: 65.7 µg/m³, 10× usualLincoln, 5 July: 29.1 µg/m³, 4.5× usualLincoln, 6 July: 6.2 µg/m³, 1.0× usualLincoln, 7 July: 6.6 µg/m³, 1.0× usualLincoln, 8 July: no readingLa VistaLa Vista, 1 July: 13.8 µg/m³, 2.8× usualLa Vista, 2 July: 7.8 µg/m³, 1.6× usualLa Vista, 3 July: 7.7 µg/m³, 1.5× usualLa Vista, 4 July: 58.4 µg/m³, 12× usualLa Vista, 5 July: 61.4 µg/m³, 12× usualLa Vista, 6 July: 3.4 µg/m³, 0.7× usualLa Vista, 7 July: 4.7 µg/m³, 0.9× usualLa Vista, 8 July: 5.9 µg/m³, 1.2× usualBellevueBellevue, 1 July: 12.6 µg/m³, 2.0× usualBellevue, 2 July: 6.0 µg/m³, 0.9× usualBellevue, 3 July: 6.0 µg/m³, 0.9× usualBellevue, 4 July: 47.6 µg/m³, 7.4× usualBellevue, 5 July: 51.5 µg/m³, 8.0× usualBellevue, 6 July: 3.0 µg/m³, 0.5× usualBellevue, 7 July: 5.0 µg/m³, 0.8× usualBellevue, 8 July: 4.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usualDes MoinesDes Moines, 1 July: 17.4 µg/m³, 2.3× usualDes Moines, 2 July: 13.2 µg/m³, 1.7× usualDes Moines, 3 July: 7.8 µg/m³, 1.0× usualDes Moines, 4 July: 43.5 µg/m³, 5.6× usualDes Moines, 5 July: 39.8 µg/m³, 5.2× usualDes Moines, 6 July: 15.8 µg/m³, 2.1× usualDes Moines, 7 July: 11.5 µg/m³, 1.5× usualDes Moines, 8 July: 9.9 µg/m³, 1.3× usualOmahaOmaha, 1 July: 14.9 µg/m³, 2.0× usualOmaha, 2 July: 8.6 µg/m³, 1.1× usualOmaha, 3 July: 10.2 µg/m³, 1.4× usualOmaha, 4 July: 41.6 µg/m³, 5.5× usualOmaha, 5 July: 85.3 µg/m³, 11× usualOmaha, 6 July: 5.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usualOmaha, 7 July: 7.5 µg/m³, 1.0× usualOmaha, 8 July: 7.2 µg/m³, 1.0× usualKansas CityKansas City, 1 July: 13.9 µg/m³, 1.4× usualKansas City, 2 July: 10.1 µg/m³, 1.1× usualKansas City, 3 July: 11.2 µg/m³, 1.2× usualKansas City, 4 July: 40.9 µg/m³, 4.3× usualKansas City, 5 July: 37.3 µg/m³, 3.9× usualKansas City, 6 July: 9.7 µg/m³, 1.0× usualKansas City, 7 July: 11.0 µg/m³, 1.1× usualKansas City, 8 July: 10.0 µg/m³, 1.0× usualTopekaTopeka, 1 July: 14.4 µg/m³, 1.8× usualTopeka, 2 July: 10.6 µg/m³, 1.3× usualTopeka, 3 July: 10.5 µg/m³, 1.3× usualTopeka, 4 July: 29.2 µg/m³, 3.6× usualTopeka, 5 July: 38.8 µg/m³, 4.7× usualTopeka, 6 July: 11.0 µg/m³, 1.3× usualTopeka, 7 July: 10.1 µg/m³, 1.2× usualTopeka, 8 July: 9.7 µg/m³, 1.2× usualKansas CityKansas City, 1 July: 12.3 µg/m³, 1.6× usualKansas City, 2 July: 8.6 µg/m³, 1.1× usualKansas City, 3 July: 9.4 µg/m³, 1.2× usualKansas City, 4 July: 14.7 µg/m³, 1.9× usualKansas City, 5 July: 44.4 µg/m³, 5.8× usualKansas City, 6 July: 7.3 µg/m³, 1.0× usualKansas City, 7 July: 8.7 µg/m³, 1.1× usualKansas City, 8 July: 7.3 µg/m³, 1.0× usualWichitaWichita, 1 July: 12.1 µg/m³, 1.3× usualWichita, 2 July: 11.8 µg/m³, 1.3× usualWichita, 3 July: 11.6 µg/m³, 1.2× usualWichita, 4 July: 21.9 µg/m³, 2.4× usualWichita, 5 July: 30.5 µg/m³, 3.3× usualWichita, 6 July: 10.3 µg/m³, 1.1× usualWichita, 7 July: 8.5 µg/m³, 0.9× usualWichita, 8 July: 9.2 µg/m³, 1.0× usualRaymoreRaymore, 1 July: 10.8 µg/m³, 1.6× usualRaymore, 2 July: 8.2 µg/m³, 1.2× usualRaymore, 3 July: 10.8 µg/m³, 1.6× usualRaymore, 4 July: 8.3 µg/m³, 1.2× usualRaymore, 5 July: 26.1 µg/m³, 3.9× usualRaymore, 6 July: 6.8 µg/m³, 1.0× usualRaymore, 7 July: 7.8 µg/m³, 1.2× usualRaymore, 8 July: 7.8 µg/m³, 1.2× usual1 Jul2345678
Every counted city, in the order the episode reached them, 3 days before to 3 after. Each square is a day, coloured by that day's PM2.5; outlined: at twice the city's usual or more.
Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

Every city it reached

CityDaysHighestUsualAbove usual
La VistaNebraska, United States2 61.45 July4.312×
OmahaNebraska, United States2 85.35 July7.511×
LincolnNebraska, United States2 65.74 July6.510×
BellevueNebraska, United States2 51.55 July6.48.0×
Kansas CityMissouri, United States1 44.45 July7.65.8×
Des MoinesIowa, United States2 43.54 July7.75.6×
TopekaKansas, United States2 38.85 July8.24.7×
Kansas CityKansas, United States2 40.94 July9.64.3×
RaymoreMissouri, United States1 26.15 July6.73.9×
WichitaKansas, United States1 30.55 July9.33.3×

Daily means in µg/m³. Usual: the city's median for this time of year (its days within 21 days of the date, every year, leaving out the week around it). Above usual: its highest day against that.

Against other episodes in the United States

Number 69 of 98 episodes in the United States since our records began, by cities reached.

Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 98.

Use this page

SmogRank, Northern United States, July 2026: 10 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 4 to 5 July 2026, smogrank.com/episodes/2026-07-northern-united-states (accessed 2 October 2026).

Download top 10 (PNG)

You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms.

An episode is a run of days when many cities close to each other (four or more within 350 km on a day, 8 or more in all) each had a daily PM2.5 mean of at least 25 µg/m³ and at least 2 times their usual for that time of year. Found in our own measurements, not picked by hand. How we find episodes. Values are each city's daily mean of its own monitors; causes are the usual kinds for a pattern like this, not a confirmed source.