Beaumont Real-Time AQI Tracker
Get Alerts For Unhealthy AQI In Your Area
When air quality in your area reaches unhealthy levels, we'll send you a quick alert, along with expert tips on how to reduce your exposure.
What's Actually In Beaumont Air Today?
What High AQI Means for Your Lungs in Beaumont
How to Read AQI
The Air Quality Index (AQI) measures how polluted the air is and how it may affect your health.
0–50 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory.
51–100 (Moderate): Acceptable, but some pollutants may pose minor concerns.
101–150 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups)
151–200 (Unhealthy)
201–300 (Very Unhealthy)
301+ (Hazardous)
Moderate
Still okay for most, but if you have asthma or allergies, take it easy and avoid long outdoor workouts.
Shop MERV 11 filters→What's the Right Filter for Your AQI Level?
Check Today's Live Real Time Air Quality Index AQI Map in Beaumont, TX Now
TL;DR
The live map above shows Beaumont's current air quality index (AQI), its color, and the pollutant behind each nearby monitor's reading. Green and yellow mean most people can keep their plans, orange tells sensitive groups to ease off outdoors, and at red or worse everyone should limit time outside. Locally, the numbers move with summer ozone, Saharan dust, distant smoke, and the occasional industrial incident. Filterbuy built this page from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and EPA records and our experience making filters in our own U.S. plants.
Key Takeaways
The Beaumont–Port Arthur (BPA) area is in attainment for federal ozone standards, a status EPA first granted in November 2010.
PM2.5, the tiny particles in smoke and dust, is the closer call: Jefferson County's preliminary 2023 design value was 8.8 µg/m³, just under the 9.0 standard.
At AQI 100 and above, Filterbuy recommends a MERV 13 filter, the fan set to On, a portable HEPA air cleaner in each occupied room, and a closed-up house.
How to Read Beaumont's Live AQI Map
Filterbuy's Beaumont AQI map turns monitor data into a 0–500 score and a color. Each dot is a monitoring station, and its number reflects whichever pollutant is worst there that hour, usually ozone or PM2.5. Start with the station closest to your home, since west Beaumont can read differently from the Neches River corridor or Port Arthur.
Readings often bunch together because the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission (SETRPC) and TCEQ both run monitors across the three-county area.
What Each AQI Color Means for Your Plans in Beaumont
Every AQI color carries a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health message, summarized on AirNow's AQI. Sensitive groups include children, adults over 65, outdoor workers, and anyone with asthma, COPD, or heart disease, who should follow their doctor's plan and official guidance. Find your color below, or see Filterbuy's AQI color chart guide.
| AQI | Category | What it means | What to do in Beaumont |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good (green) | Little or no risk | Open windows and keep your normal filter routine. |
| 51–100 | Moderate (yellow) | Acceptable; unusually sensitive people may notice symptoms | Get a MERV 13 in before smoke or dust arrives, and keep a spare. |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (orange) | Sensitive groups may feel effects | Follow the four-step plan below. |
| 151–200 | Unhealthy (red) | Everyone may feel effects | Keep the plan going; inspect the filter more often and keep replacements. |
| 201–300 | Very Unhealthy (purple) | Health alert | Follow AirNow and local guidance first; use a clean room. |
| 301+ | Hazardous (maroon) | Emergency conditions | Follow Jefferson County officials and AirNow first. |
Source: U.S. EPA AirNow, AQI Basics. Check the live map above for Beaumont's current category.
At AQI 100 and Above: Filterbuy's Four-Step Plan
AQI 100 is still the top of the Moderate range, but it's where Filterbuy tells Beaumont homeowners to act on dust or smoke:
Put a MERV 13 filter in your HVAC system. It treats the whole house.
Set the thermostat fan to On. Auto filters only while the system heats or cools.
Run a portable HEPA air cleaner in each occupied room, bedrooms first.
Close the house up. Skip candles, frying, smoking, and vacuuming without a HEPA vacuum.
The HVAC filter and the room cleaners do different jobs, so use both. Above 200, follow AirNow and local officials first; filtration is only one layer.
EPA's wildfire smoke guidance recommends a high-efficiency HVAC filter such as MERV 13, says HVAC filters and portable cleaners work well together, and advises checking filters often and keeping spares.
Why the Beaumont AQI Can Lag or Miss What You Smell
The AQI can lag because AirNow blends recent hours using a method called the NowCast, so a fast-moving plume may take an hour or two to show.
The bigger gap is what the AQI leaves out: benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and the sulfur compounds behind many refinery odors. TCEQ tracks those volatile organic compounds (VOCs) separately, so a strong smell on a green-AQI day is possible.
Where to Check Beaumont's Air Quality Forecast and Alerts
TCEQ's daily forecast covers the Beaumont–Port Arthur area on state workdays and flags Ozone Action Days when ozone may reach unhealthy levels. AirNow's free EnviroFlash service emails or texts ZIP-code forecasts.
How Air Quality Differs Across Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange
Neighborhoods near the Neches River refining corridor or Interstate 10 truck traffic can see higher short-term readings than areas farther west.
Even the key monitor in TCEQ's recent PM2.5 review sits at Port Arthur Memorial School, not in Beaumont, so check the station nearest your ZIP code. For a wider view, compare the live Houston AQI map or the statewide Texas AQI map.
What's in Beaumont's Air, From Ozone to PM2.5
Ozone
Ground-level ozone has long been Beaumont's main issue. It forms when nitrogen oxides and VOCs from traffic and industry react in heat and sunlight, peaking on hot, still afternoons. The region missed its June 2007 deadline under EPA's 8-hour ozone standard but was redesignated to attainment on November 19, 2010, according to TCEQ. Attainment is a multiyear average, so a single summer afternoon can still turn orange.
Fine Particles (PM2.5)
PM2.5 is the pollutant to watch now. EPA tightened the annual standard from 12.0 to 9.0 µg/m³ in 2024, and TCEQ's preliminary 2023 figures put Jefferson County at 8.8, Orange County at 8.3, and Harris County (Houston) at 12.5, so dust and smoke days matter here.
Industrial Sources
Beaumont sits in one of the country's largest refining clusters, including ExxonMobil's Beaumont refinery and Motiva's Port Arthur refinery, the nation's largest. Both emit NOx, sulfur dioxide, and VOCs under state permits.
Beaumont's Episodic Air Events, From Saharan Dust to Plant Fires
Beaumont's worst particle days follow the calendar. Filterbuy sorted every high-PM2.5 event TCEQ flagged in Jefferson County from 2022 to 2024 by month and type, using its exceptional events records.
| Months | Main driver (2022–2024 events) | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| February–June | Smoke from fires in Mexico and Central America (7; four in May 2024) | Stock a spare filter before May |
| June–August | Saharan dust (8; every year reviewed) | Check your filter weekly during plumes |
| July | Hurricane dust (Beryl, July 6, 2024) | Inspect the filter after storms |
| August–October | U.S. wildfire smoke (7) | Run the fan "On" when PM2.5 climbs |
| May, October | Canadian wildfire smoke (3) | Watch PM2.5 even on clear days |
Source: Filterbuy analysis of TCEQ's 2022–2024 PM2.5 exceptional events list for the Port Arthur Memorial School monitor. Prescribed burns added nine more events across the year.
On November 27, 2019, explosions at the TPC Group plant in Port Neches forced mandatory evacuations in Port Neches and nearby towns, as the Port Arthur News reported.
What a Beaumont Air Quality Alert Means for You
Ozone Action Day: Exercise before noon, refuel late in the day, skip idling, and keep windows shut in the afternoon.
Particle (PM2.5) alert: Follow the four-step plan above.
Shelter-in-place order: Go inside, close windows and doors, and turn off fans, heating, and air conditioning as officials instruct. An HVAC filter won't stop a chemical gas.
Protecting a Beaumont Home Without Central AC
In apartments and older or manufactured homes on window units, a portable HEPA air cleaner in each occupied room is the primary defense, not an add-on. EPA's sizing guidance works out to a smoke clean air delivery rate (CADR) of about two-thirds of the room's square footage. For a 300-square-foot bedroom, that's about 200. EPA also advises against air cleaners that produce ozone.
Our Take: Beaumont's Humidity Changes the Filter Routine
Filterbuy builds filters in its own U.S. plants, including one in Texas, so Gulf Coast humidity is something we design around. Our advice for homeowners:
Change on a 30- to 60-day cycle. Our filter-change guidance sets it for 1-inch filters in hot, humid Texas homes.
Watch the edges as closely as the media. The failure we see most is bypass: a filter flexes in its track and air slips around it. Our beverage board frames and wire backing hold their shape in heat and humidity.
During smoke or dust, inspect instead of counting days. Replace the filter when it turns dark brown or black, which can be well before the usual interval, and keep spares on hand.
"In the field, the filter rarely gets blamed for the thing it actually caused. A frozen coil or a blower running long gets written up as a refrigerant or thermostat problem, when the real cause was a loaded filter nobody changed,"
David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician, Filterbuy HVAC Solutions.
Which Filter Beaumont's AQI Calls For
Check the live map and TCEQ's forecast first, then match the filter to the pollutant. For smoke and dust, the tier is MERV 13. EPA notes that most furnaces and HVAC systems can use a MERV 13 filter without equipment problems, provided it's replaced often, so a normal size check is enough. See Filterbuy's guide to the best MERV rating for high-AQI days.
| Situation on the map | Main pollutant | Best action | Filter guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green or yellow, everyday | Mixed | Normal routine | MERV 8 for basic dust; MERV 11 for pollen and pet dander |
| AQI 100+ from dust or smoke | PM2.5 | Four-step plan | MERV 13, plus a portable HEPA air cleaner in each occupied room |
| Ozone Action Day | Ozone | Close windows in the afternoon | Particle filters don't remove ozone |
| Industrial release | Gases/VOCs | Follow shelter-in-place orders | A filter is not emergency protection |
Confirm your HVAC system can handle a higher-MERV filter before upgrading; an HVAC technician can check static pressure.
Shop Filterbuy's MERV 8, MERV 11, MERV 13, or Odor Eliminator carbon filters in 600+ sizes, and set up auto-delivery. See how Beaumont fits into air quality across the U.S. on our national live AQI map.
Supporting Statistics
36 high-particle events in three years. Filterbuy's count of TCEQ records shows 36 PM2.5 events at the Port Arthur Memorial School monitor from 2022 to 2024, and half came from Canada, Mexico, Central America, or the Sahara. Source: TCEQ
About 90% of our time is spent indoors, where some pollutants run 2 to 5 times higher. Source: U.S. EPA
HVAC systems usually run less than 25% of the time, and a filter cleans air only while the system runs. Source: U.S. EPA
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the air quality in Beaumont today?
Beaumont's current air quality is on Filterbuy's live AQI map at the top of this page. Match its color to the action table above.
Is the air quality bad in Beaumont today?
It depends on the live map's color. Orange means sensitive groups should limit outdoor exertion, and red or higher means everyone should. During a plant fire or chemical release, follow Jefferson County officials even if the AQI looks normal.
Where can I check Beaumont PM2.5 today?
Tap any station on the live map to see whether PM2.5 or ozone is driving its AQI.
What MERV rating do I need for smoke or dust in Beaumont?
MERV 13. Filterbuy recommends it once the AQI reaches 100 from smoke or dust, with the fan set to On and a portable HEPA air cleaner in each occupied room.
When is Beaumont's air quality usually worst?
In Filterbuy's review of 2022–2024 TCEQ records, particle spikes clustered in May (smoke from Mexico and Central America), June–August (Saharan dust), and August–October (wildfire smoke).
Glossary
Air Quality Index (AQI): EPA's 0–500, color-coded scale for daily air quality.
PM2.5: Fine particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller.
Ground-level ozone: A lung irritant formed in sunlight.
Beaumont–Port Arthur (BPA) area: The air quality region of Hardin, Jefferson, and Orange counties.
TCEQ: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state air agency.
Design value: A multiyear statistic EPA uses to judge compliance.
VOCs: Volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, that help form ozone.
MERV: Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, a 1–16 HVAC filter efficiency rating.
HEPA: A filter standard for portable air cleaners, not HVAC systems.
CADR: Clean air delivery rate, a portable cleaner's particle-removal capacity.
About the Author
Michelle Wan is Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer at Filterbuy. David Clark, a Licensed HVAC Technician with Filterbuy HVAC Solutions, reviewed this page for technical accuracy. Filterbuy is a family-owned American manufacturer that makes filters to order in its own U.S. plants.