City report · British Columbia, Canada
Kelowna Air quality today
Air quality in Kelowna currently reads AQI 21 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 21
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.7
- tree cover
- 22.4%
- trees in this area
- 57.4K
- more trees needed
- 19.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around North Central, Kelowna, BC, Canada (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kelowna · AQI 21 (Good)
Kelowna's tree count comes to 57,423 trees across 10.26 km² of land, 8 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 19,483 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kelowna today: AQI 21, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Kettle Valley, Kelowna, 9.8 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.7
PM10
10.0
NO₂
18.8
O₃
2.0
SO₂
0.0
CO
0.0
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, AirNow, Jeremie
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kelowna's daily AQI at 43 on average, from 15 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 155 on Nov 7.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Canada's AQHI
Where Kelowna stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kelowna: Below target
22.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.26 km² of land.
Trees in this area
57,423
Target trees
76,906
More trees needed
19,483
CO₂ if planted / yr
428.6 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kelowna lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kelowna has lost about 4,590 hectares of forest (about 6,400 football pitches): 64% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to wildfires, so much of it can grow back. About 563 hectares (12%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 4,590 haabout 6,400 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 64%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 563 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is speeding up: about 674 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 30 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2023, when about 3,130 hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 8 ha | 3 ha | 11 ha |
| 2002 | 10 ha | 10 ha | 20 ha |
| 2003 | 22 ha | 304 ha | 326 ha |
| 2004 | 99 ha | 199 ha | 298 ha |
| 2005 | 18 ha | 5 ha | 22 ha |
| 2006 | 70 ha | 24 ha | 94 ha |
| 2007 | 42 ha | 7 ha | 50 ha |
| 2008 | 53 ha | 15 ha | 68 ha |
| 2009 | 11 ha | 28 ha | 39 ha |
| 2010 | 29 ha | 24 ha | 53 ha |
| 2011 | 11 ha | 2 ha | 13 ha |
| 2012 | 9 ha | 8 ha | 16 ha |
| 2013 | 6 ha | 4 ha | 11 ha |
| 2014 | 13 ha | 3 ha | 17 ha |
| 2015 | 17 ha | 13 ha | 30 ha |
| 2016 | 18 ha | 4 ha | 22 ha |
| 2017 | 37 ha | 6 ha | 43 ha |
| 2018 | 16 ha | under 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2019 | 18 ha | 33 ha | 51 ha |
| 2020 | 16 ha | 3 ha | 19 ha |
| 2021 | 13 ha | 9 ha | 21 ha |
| 2022 | 8 ha | 43 ha | 50 ha |
| 2023 | 4 ha | 3,130 ha | 3,130 ha |
| 2024 | 6 ha | 145 ha | 150 ha |
| 2025 | 9 ha | 6 ha | 15 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Kelowna?
- Wildfirescan grow back87% · 3,990 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good9.2% · 422 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good3.1% · 140 ha
Also: logging, mining and energy, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 11,200 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 10,700 ha
- Overall change
- −502 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kelowna shrank from about 11,200 hectares to 10,700 hectares, a net loss of about 502 hectares (−4.5%). New forest grew on about 522 hectares, but 1,020 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Kelowna
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Kamloops105.3 km
Canada
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 30
- Chilliwack195.1 km
Canada
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 17
- Abbotsford220.0 km
Canada
- Tree cover
- 55%
- Air quality
- 28
- Langley245.1 km
Canada
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 26
- Coquitlam246.8 km
Canada
- Tree cover
- 42%
- Air quality
- 21
- Surrey256.2 km
Canada
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 26
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Frequently asked
Questions about Kelowna
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kelowna right now?
The latest reading for Kelowna shows an AQI of 21 (Good), measured Nov 11, 08:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Kettle Valley, Kelowna, 9.8 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Kelowna today?
At AQI 21 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Kelowna been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kelowna's daily AQI at 43 on average, from 15 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 155 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Kelowna's AQI the same as Canada's AQHI?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), from Environment and Climate Change Canada, runs from 1 to 10 and above: 1–3 low risk, 4–6 moderate, 7–10 high and over 10 very high. It combines ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles into one health-risk number, so it isn't a converted AQI, and the two can move differently, especially in wildfire smoke.
How much forest has the area around Kelowna lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kelowna has lost about 4,590 hectares of forest (about 6,400 football pitches): 64% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to wildfires, so much of it can grow back. About 563 hectares (12%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Forest loss is speeding up: about 674 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 30 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kelowna shrank from about 11,200 hectares to 10,700 hectares, a net loss of about 502 hectares (−4.5%). New forest grew on about 522 hectares, but 1,020 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kelowna?
Kelowna has an estimated 57,423 trees across the 10.26 km² of land measured — 22.4% tree cover, 8 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kelowna need?
Kelowna needs roughly 19,483 more trees to close a 8-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 428.6 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kelowna's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near North Central, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around North Central; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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