Keep one room clean on smoky days
Shut the windows and run an air purifier sized for the room.
Choosing a purifier →Air quality in Swain County, NC
EPA monitor readings, 2021 to 2025 · 14,000 people
For today's air and tomorrow's forecast, check AirNow by ZIP code.
Bad-air days a year
<1
day with an AQI over 100
3 bad-air days in 5 years of readings, 2021 to 2025. That's down from about 6 a year in the early 2000s. Swain County is tied with 7 other North Carolina counties for the 8th most bad-air days of the 34 with monitors.
0days unhealthy for everyoneAQI over 150, a year
40AQI on a typical dayGood: fine for everyone
Feb, Mar and Novworst monthsMany in one stretch, Nov 2016
182worst day since 2016Nov 23, 2016, fine particles
How to read the AQIThe EPA's air score runs from 0 to 500. Higher is worse. Over 100 counts as a bad-air day.
Typical day 40 (Good)Worst day 182 (Unhealthy)
Good0 to 50Moderate51 to 100Sensitive groups101 to 150Unhealthy151 to 200Very unhealthy201 to 300Hazardous301 to 500
When bad air happens in Swain County
Average bad-air days in each month, from 10 years of daily readings since 2016. Most fall in February, March and November.
Jan0
Feb0.1
Mar0.1
Apr0.1
May0
Jun0.1
Jul0.1
Aug0
Sep0
Oct0
Nov1.1
Dec0
Fine particles (smoke, soot)Ozone (smog)Bars stack in that order, from the bottom.
See the numbers by month
| Month | Ozone | Fine particles | All |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| March | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 |
| May | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| July | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| August | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 0 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| December | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The worst day since 2016 was November 23, 2016: AQI 182, from fine particles.
What causes it
The pollutant that pushed the AQI over 100 on each of the 16 bad-air days since 2016.
6%Ozone: smog that forms in sunlight on hot days
94%Fine particles: smoke and soot
Most of the bad days here came in one stretch: 11 fine-particle days in November 2016.
CDC estimates by month, 2001 to 2022
The CDC's model counts bad-air days at the county's worst spot, from monitors and satellites. Particles (brown) fill the inside of the ring and ozone (blue) the outside.
See the numbers by month
| Month | Fine particles | Ozone |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0 |
| February | 0 | 0 |
| March | 0 | 0.1 |
| April | 0 | 1.0 |
| May | 0 | 1.6 |
| June | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| July | 0 | 1.2 |
| August | 0 | 1.1 |
| September | 0 | 0.8 |
| October | 0 | 0 |
| November | 0.4 | 0 |
| December | 0 | 0 |
What helps in Swain County
Most bad days here are fine particles in the colder months. Filtering the air at home helps most.
Upgrade the furnace filter
Use MERV 13 if your system can take it, and run the fan on smoky days.
Furnace filters →Check tomorrow's forecast
AirNow posts an air quality forecast by ZIP code, usually the day before.
AirNow →For today's reading and tomorrow's forecast, check AirNow by ZIP code. Its fire and smoke map adds smoke plumes.
Purifiers with a verified smoke rating
For a clean room on smoky days. Each has a smoke CADR tested by AHAM's independent program and is certified by California as a mechanical cleaner, so it makes no ozone.
Levoit Vital 100S-P
143 smoke CADR
- Everyday
- up to 222 sq ft
- Heavy smoke
- up to 143 sq ft
- Filters
- about $40 a year
The cheapest unit we found with a verified smoke rating. Enough for a bedroom clean room.
$119.99 at LevoitLevoit Vital 200S-P
250 smoke CADR
- Everyday
- up to 388 sq ft
- Heavy smoke
- up to 250 sq ft
- Filters
- about $50 a year
The most verified smoke cleaning per dollar of any qualifying model: 75% more than the 100S-P for $50 more.
$169.99 at LevoitLevoit Core 600S-P
391 smoke CADR
- Everyday
- up to 606 sq ft
- Heavy smoke
- up to 391 sq ft
- Filters
- $60 to $120 a year
For a big room or a small apartment. Buy the LAP-C601S-WUS version, which CARB lists as mechanical.
$299.99 at LevoitWhy all 3 are Levoit: of the models we checked that pass both tests, these give the most verified smoke cleaning per dollar at each room size. Medify's MA-25 and MA-40 also pass but cost more for the same cleaning.
Ratings from the AHAM Verifide directory and CARB's certified list. Prices from Levoit's site, checked November 7, 2026; they change. We don't earn anything from these links. How to pick a purifier
Every year since 2000
Bad-air days each year. The striped part is days unhealthy for everyone, over AQI 150. The worst recent year was 2023, with 2 bad-air days.
Unhealthy for sensitive groups (101 to 150)Unhealthy or worse (over 150)
See the numbers by year
| Year | Bad-air days | Over 150 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5 | 0 |
| 2001 | 9 | 2 |
| 2002 | 10 | 0 |
| 2003 | 5 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 3 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 4 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 12 | 4 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 |
Swain County and its neighbors
Bad-air days a year, 2021 to 2025. North Carolina counties with monitors averaged about 1 bad-air day a year, weighted by population.
Nearest county with a full report: Knox County, TN (2 bad-air days a year).
Questions people ask about air in Swain County
How often is the air bad in Swain County?
From 2021 to 2025, monitors in Swain County recorded about 1 bad-air day a year with an AQI above 100, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. The worst year in that stretch was 2023, with 2 bad-air days.
What causes bad air in Swain County?
Most of the bad days here came in one stretch: 11 fine-particle days in November 2016. Bad days cluster in February, March and November.
Where can I see today's air quality in Swain County?
AirNow, run by the EPA and its partners, shows the current AQI and tomorrow's forecast for your ZIP code. Its fire and smoke map adds smoke plumes. On a typical day the AQI in Swain County is about 40, which is good, fine for everyone. Check it most in February, March and November, when bad days here cluster.
About these numbers
Day counts come from the EPA's county air quality summaries, which take the worst reading across a county's monitors each day. Monitors here reported on about 363 days a year from 2021 to 2025. A county is large, and your street can be cleaner or worse. CDC's model, which estimates every county from monitors and satellites, gives the worst spot in Swain County almost no high-particle days and almost no high-ozone days a year from 2018 to 2022.
Sources: EPA AirData county AQI summaries (2000 to 2025) and daily county AQI (2016 to 2025); CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network modeled PM2.5 and ozone (2001 to 2022). Updated November 8, 2026.