Bad Air Days in Kay County, Oklahoma: 3 a Year
3 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 425 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (96% particle days).
Which months to watch
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in April and March. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
What to buy, and what not to
- 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 Kay
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 16 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 3. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2021, with 9 bad days on 354 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-04-05 | 193 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-04-01 | 168 | PM2.5 |
| 2025-03-14 | 141 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-04-13 | 140 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-04-12 | 137 | PM2.5 |
An ordinary day in Kay
Across 3,589 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Kay County rated Good on 53% 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 63.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)92%3,299 days
- ozone8%290 days
Kay County by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 361 | 257 | 102 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 141 |
| 2024 | 356 | 223 | 128 | 5 | 1 | 42 | 193 |
| 2023 | 335 | 172 | 162 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 122 |
| 2022 | 361 | 225 | 136 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 93 |
| 2021 | 354 | 167 | 178 | 9 | 1 | 52 | 168 |
| 2020 | 366 | 171 | 193 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 113 |
| 2019 | 365 | 206 | 158 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 106 |
| 2018 | 365 | 181 | 182 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 114 |
| 2017 | 365 | 151 | 214 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 90 |
| 2016 | 361 | 165 | 193 | 3 | 0 | 52 | 126 |
| 2015 | 362 | 139 | 222 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 107 |
| 2014 | 365 | 112 | 250 | 3 | 0 | 56 | 122 |
| 2013 | 365 | 156 | 205 | 4 | 0 | 53 | 115 |
| 2012 | 312 | 111 | 182 | 19 | 1 | 55 | 159 |
| 2011 | 285 | 175 | 87 | 23 | 0 | 46 | 143 |
| 2010 | 364 | 173 | 191 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 93 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Oklahoma compared
- Love County10/yr
- Tulsa County6/yr
- Oklahoma County6/yr
- Jefferson County5/yr
- McClain County5/yr
- Ottawa County4/yr
- Carter County4/yr
- Washington County4/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.