Worst air pollution Columbia Gorge Discovery Center - The Dalles, today and tomorrow

On 20 September 2026, overall air quality in Columbia Gorge Discovery Center is fair. AQI is the main air quality indicator at 24.6/100. Pollution peaks around 5:00 AM (PM2.5: 24.6/100).

On 21 September 2026, air quality conditions in Columbia Gorge Discovery Center will be better than today, with AQI forecast at good at 16.9/100. Pollution peaks around 10:00 AM (O3: 16.9/100).

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center experiences the same seasonal air quality swings as the rest of The Dalles. In short, rain-heavy winters keep the air unusually clean compared to much of the country, whereas by late summer, wildfire smoke can override the region's usual clean-air advantage for days at a time. Winter temperature inversions can briefly trap wood-smoke in low-lying valleys, but these episodes are usually short-lived.

It is forecasts derived by downscaling forecasts provided by EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) by taking into account local conditions such as traffic patterns. CAMS bases its forecast on satellite measurements of particles and chemical compounds in the atmosphere. Airmine’s services were developed with support from the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) team.

Airmine’s forecast uses CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) as its background atmospheric model. While CAMS includes wildfire emissions, these are derived from satellite observations and are not available in real time. During rapidly evolving wildfire events, there may therefore be a delay before increased emissions are incorporated into the model. As a result, the forecast may temporarily underestimate PM₂.₅ and other pollutants associated with wildfire smoke.

During rapidly evolving wildfire events, CAMS may lag by approximately 1–2 days before increased wildfire emissions are fully represented, which can lead to temporary underestimation of PM₂.₅ concentrations in Airmine’s forecast.