Not a warning service. In an emergency call Triple Zero (000). Every state's fire map: NSW · VIC · QLD · SA · WA · TAS · NT · ACT.
Today the CAMS model puts the most bushfire smoke over Alice Springs (smoke haze, smoke AOD 0.2). 2 of 15 cities have a smoke haze or worse today: Alice Springs, Darwin.
Bushfire smoke forecast: the next 3 days
Fine particles (PM2.5) today
- MelbournePM2.5 10.6 µg/m³
- AdelaidePM2.5 10.4 µg/m³
- DarwinPM2.5 10.3 µg/m³
- Gold CoastPM2.5 10 µg/m³
- GeelongPM2.5 9.9 µg/m³
- BrisbanePM2.5 9.1 µg/m³
- SydneyPM2.5 7.8 µg/m³
- WollongongPM2.5 7.5 µg/m³
- NewcastlePM2.5 7.1 µg/m³
- CairnsPM2.5 6.3 µg/m³
- TownsvillePM2.5 5.8 µg/m³
- PerthPM2.5 5.7 µg/m³
- HobartPM2.5 5.4 µg/m³
- Alice SpringsPM2.5 5 µg/m³
- CanberraPM2.5 2.3 µg/m³
Bushfire smoke today by city
- Sydney bushfire smoke today
- Melbourne bushfire smoke today
- Brisbane bushfire smoke today
- Perth bushfire smoke today
- Adelaide bushfire smoke today
- Canberra bushfire smoke today
- Hobart bushfire smoke today
- Darwin bushfire smoke today
- Gold Coast bushfire smoke today
Smoke map questions
Where is the bushfire smoke in Australia today?
Today the CAMS model puts the most bushfire smoke over Alice Springs (smoke haze, smoke AOD 0.2). 2 of 15 cities have a smoke haze or worse today: Alice Springs, Darwin. The brown haze on the map is the forecast smoke and the drifting particles show where today's wind carries it; red dots are the fire hotspots NASA satellites detected in their latest passes.
Is there bushfire smoke in Sydney today?
No, little or no bushfire smoke over Sydney today: the CAMS smoke AOD there is below 0.1 and the day's mean PM2.5 7.8 µg/m³.
What does the smoke number mean?
It is the fire-smoke aerosol optical depth: how much light the smoke in the whole column of air above a place blocks, from the organic matter and black carbon that fires give off. Below 0.1 is clean air, 0.1 to 0.5 a smoke haze you can see and smell, 0.5 to 1 heavy smoke, above 1 very heavy smoke. PM2.5 is different: the fine particles near the ground that you breathe. Smoke high overhead can turn the sky orange before PM2.5 at street level rises, and smoke trapped low overnight can do the opposite.
Is the smoke from a bushfire or a hazard reduction burn?
The model cannot tell, and neither can a satellite hotspot. In autumn and spring much of the smoke over the south-east comes from planned hazard reduction burns, which often settle over cities overnight and clear by midday. Your state's fire map lists planned burns: NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT, ACT.
What should I do on a smoky day?
Health departments advise: if you can see or smell smoke, stay indoors with windows and doors closed, set an air conditioner to recirculate, and put off hard exercise outdoors. People with asthma, heart or lung disease should follow their action plan and keep their medication close. See NSW Health on bushfire smoke; in an emergency call 000.
Why is there so much smoke in northern Australia?
The tropical savannas of the Northern Territory, Queensland's Cape York and the Kimberley burn every dry season, roughly May to November. Many fires are lit early on purpose (traditional Aboriginal fire management and carbon farming burns) to prevent larger fires late in the season, and their smoke drifts hundreds of kilometres over Darwin, Katherine and the Gulf.
Measured air quality, by state
- Air Quality NSW (NSW)
- EPA Victoria AirWatch (VIC)
- Queensland air quality (QLD)
- EPA South Australia air quality monitoring (SA)
- WA air quality index (DWER) (WA)
- EPA Tasmania real-time air quality (TAS)
- NT air quality monitoring (NT)
- ACT air quality (ACT)