Bad Air Days in Forrest County, Mississippi: under 1 a Year
under 1 bad air days a year
Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 894 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (100% particle days).
Which months to watch
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in March and April and December. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
Is a purifier worth it here?
- Bad air days are rare here. A standard furnace filter is enough; no purifier needed for outdoor air.
- On the odd bad day, check AirNow and keep windows shut.
The record for Forrest
The worst recent year was 2018, with 1 bad day on 359 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-04-11 | 119 | PM2.5 |
| 2022-03-04 | 105 | PM2.5 |
| 2024-12-24 | 103 | PM2.5 |
| 2020-06-26 | 97 | PM2.5 |
| 2025-03-03 | 97 | PM2.5 |
Most days, not the worst ones
Across 3,582 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Forrest County rated Good on 54% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 46%. The median day sat at AQI 48; one day in ten went above 62.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)100%3,582 days
Forrest County by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 363 | 226 | 137 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 97 |
| 2024 | 362 | 202 | 159 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 103 |
| 2023 | 365 | 145 | 220 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 94 |
| 2022 | 365 | 178 | 186 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 105 |
| 2021 | 363 | 178 | 185 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 93 |
| 2020 | 361 | 196 | 165 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 97 |
| 2019 | 358 | 210 | 148 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 77 |
| 2018 | 359 | 195 | 163 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 119 |
| 2017 | 350 | 207 | 143 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 77 |
| 2016 | 336 | 212 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 74 |
| 2015 | 354 | 177 | 177 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 78 |
| 2014 | 361 | 160 | 201 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 76 |
| 2013 | 361 | 182 | 178 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 107 |
| 2012 | 282 | 123 | 159 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 76 |
| 2011 | 298 | 79 | 219 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 91 |
| 2010 | 115 | 35 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 79 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Mississippi compared
- DeSoto County2/yr
- Harrison County1/yr
- Jackson Countyunder 1/yr
- Hinds Countyunder 1/yr
- Bolivar Countyunder 1/yr
- Lee Countyunder 1/yr
- Hancock Countyunder 1/yr
- Yalobusha Countyunder 1/yr
How this is counted
A bad air day is a day the county's daily AQI from EPA AirData went above 100, the level where EPA tells children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease to cut back outdoors. Monitors do not run every day, so yearly counts are scaled to 365 days. This is the record, not today's air: for that, check AirNow. More on the method in how the county numbers are made, on the AQI 100 line in what counts as a bad air day.