Bushfires and air quality
Adelaide experienced its worst air quality since the 2015 Sampson Flat bushfires on 21 November 2019.
A wind change pushed smoke from bushfires on Yorke Peninsula towards Adelaide, where it created a thick haze that posed a particular risk to children, older people and those with respiratory complaints.
The air quality index all over the state was rated as very poor for most of the day, with airborne particles peaking at about 600 micrograms/m3 between 6am and 8am.
This is 12 times higher than normal readings, which are usually less than 50 micrograms/m3.
The EPA draws its air quality data from its network of eight monitoring stations around metropolitan Adelaide, and four in Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie.
The air quality index represents a 24-hour average, so while skies were blue again by mid-afternoon, the index around the state continued to show as very poor for the rest of the day.
By the following afternoon, readings from all monitoring stations had returned to good or very good.
Air quality data is available on the EPA website and is updated every hour: https://www.epa.sa.gov.au/data_and_publications/air_quality_monitoring
