SmogRank / South Africa / KwaZulu-Natal / Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg, month by month

Pietermaritzburg has a measured daily mean on 91 days since 3 September 2023. Its worst month was September 2026, at 70 US AQI (19.1 µg/m³), 280th of 2,981 cities on that month's world ranking.

Every month since 2023

2026too few days for a mean (a year needs 199)56 days measured
JannoneFebnoneMarnoneAprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAug16 daysSep70#280Oct63#193
2025too few days for a mean (a year needs 256)0 days measured
JannoneFebnoneMarnoneAprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAugnoneSepnoneOctnoneNovnoneDecnone
2024too few days for a mean (a year needs 257)32 days measured
Jan20 daysFeb10 daysMar2 daysAprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAugnoneSepnoneOctnoneNovnoneDecnone
2023too few days for a mean (a year needs 256)3 days measured
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSep3 daysOctnoneNovnoneDecnone
Each square is a month's mean PM2.5 in US AQI from Pietermaritzburg's measured days, with its place on that month's world ranking under it. A month has a mean once 70% of its days are measured, the rule the monthly rankings use; under that, the square gives the days measured. Each square opens that month's ranking with Pietermaritzburg marked; each year, the year's. A dashed square is the running month, so far.
Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

The US EPA's Air Quality Index for PM2.5 (2024 breakpoints). Show values as: µg/m³ · US AQI · India AQI · China AQI · European AQI · UK DAQI · Canada AQHI+. About the scales

Months without a mean, and why

36 months
MonthWhy
Aug 202616 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 15 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 2026No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 2026No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Feb 2026No day measured. The others: 28 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jan 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Dec 2025No day measured.
Nov 2025No day measured.
Oct 2025No day measured.
Sep 2025No day measured.
Aug 2025No day measured.
Jul 2025No day measured.
Jun 2025No day measured.
May 2025No day measured.
Apr 2025No day measured.
Mar 2025No day measured.
Feb 2025No day measured.
Jan 2025No day measured.
Dec 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Nov 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Oct 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Sep 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Aug 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 20242 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 29 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Feb 202410 of 29 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 1 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 18 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jan 202420 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 11 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Dec 2023No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Nov 2023No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Oct 2023No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Sep 20233 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 25 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.

A day counts once 18 hours of it are measured; a month needs 70% of its days.

Pietermaritzburg's worst months

MonthUS AQIDays measuredWorld rank
September 2026 7019.1 µg/m³29 of 30280thof 2,981

Monthly means over the days measured; finished months only. World rank: its place on that month's world ranking of every city with enough days. Each month opens that ranking.

Pietermaritzburg's worst days

DayUS AQI
28 Aug 2026 13348.6 µg/m³
16 Aug 2026 12946.8 µg/m³
17 Aug 2026 12344.5 µg/m³
16 Sept 2023 11942.7 µg/m³
29 Aug 2026 11039.3 µg/m³
3 Sept 2026 11039.0 µg/m³
2 Sept 2026 10436.7 µg/m³
15 Aug 2026 10436.6 µg/m³
1 Sept 2026 10436.6 µg/m³
18 Aug 2026 10235.9 µg/m³

Daily means, the highest since 3 Sept 2023; the WHO's daily guideline is 15 µg/m³. Each date opens that day's world ranking, and each episode the bad-air spell it was part of.

Use this history

SmogRank, PM2.5 monthly and daily means, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 3 Sep 2023 – 11 Oct 2026. Monitor data from SAAQIS (South Africa's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment) via OpenAQ; sources listed at smogrank.com/sources. smogrank.com/za/pietermaritzburg/history (accessed 12 Oct 2026).

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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms. Raw monitor readings in bulk are published by OpenAQ, under each provider's licence.

Pietermaritzburg now: the last 24 hours, its ranks today and the last 12 months day by day.

Updated 2026-10-12 20:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index. Some low-cost readings: Sensor.Community, ODbL (data and licence). Some readings: Uzhydromet (Uzbekistan's Hydrometeorological Service); Department of Environment, Nepal; Vietnam's government monitors; Aurassure; Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland); RMCAB (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, Bogotá); Love My Air (City and County of Denver), no reuse terms published (why we use them).