Chesapeake City, Virginia air quality history

Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Chesapeake City, Virginia, 1980–2004.

36%

Good days in 2003

Median daily AQI, 2003

Days above 100 in 2003

347

Days with an AQI in 2003 (of 365)

In 2003, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Chesapeake City, Virginia on 347 days. 124 of those days (36%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 54. That median is higher than the typical monitored county in Virginia (median 43 across 29 counties), and higher than the typical monitored U.S. county (44). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 347 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days fell: an average of 43% in 1980–1999 versus 35% in 2001–2003.

The most recent year with data for this county is 2004; EPA's files for 2005–2025 contain no row for it, which usually means its monitors stopped reporting.

Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004…) are shown in the table but left out of comparisons and trend statements.

How the days broke down each year

Each bar is one year. The colored segments show the share of monitored days that fell in each AQI category.

Good
Moderate
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Unhealthy
Very Unhealthy
Hazardous

Typical and high-end AQI over time

The median is the middle day of the year. The 90th percentile is the level that only the highest 10% of days exceeded.

Median daily AQI
90th-percentile daily AQI

Main pollutant by day, 2003

On each monitored day, the AQI reflects whichever measured pollutant had the highest index. This counts how many days each pollutant set the AQI. A pollutant that was not measured here cannot appear.

Pollutant	Days as main pollutant	Share of monitored days
Fine particles (PM2.5)	347	100%

Year-by-year data

Annual AQI summary by year
Year	Days with AQI	Good	Moderate	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Unhealthy	Median AQI	90th pct.	Max AQI	Main pollutant
2004	60	60	0	0	0	15	27	34	PM10
2003	347	124	220	2	1	54	72	154	PM2.5
2002	340	130	208	2	0	54	72	135	PM2.5
2001	322	101	217	4	0	57	77	120	PM2.5
2000	301	99	201	1	0	56	78	108	PM2.5
1999	283	106	172	5	0	56	75	120	PM2.5
1998	59	58	1	0	0	19	37	51	PM10
1997	53	51	2	0	0	17	37	57	PM10
1996	53	53	0	0	0	19	29	44	PM10
1995	59	59	0	0	0	18	33	37	PM10
1994	55	55	0	0	0	18	30	46	PM10
1993	59	59	0	0	0	19	36	43	PM10
1992	55	55	0	0	0	19	33	50	PM10
1991	58	55	3	0	0	22	44	52	PM10
1990	56	56	0	0	0	24	36	49	PM10
1989	60	56	4	0	0	24	42	54	PM10
1988	38	36	2	0	0	28	38	55	PM10
1981	163	92	53	13	5	48	101	197	Ozone
1980	158	57	47	41	13	84	143	185	Ozone

What this data can and can’t tell you

It is a county-level summary. EPA reports one AQI per day for the county, based on the monitors operating there. Air at a particular street, school or home can differ, especially near roads, industry or wildfire smoke.

It is not a health assessment. The AQI is EPA’s scale for communicating daily air quality. A county’s history can’t tell you what the health risk is for any particular person. For daily conditions and health guidance, see AirNow.

Rules change over time. EPA has revised AQI breakpoints, most recently for fine particles in 2024, so some year-to-year change can reflect the scale rather than the air.

All monitored counties in Virginia

Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 1980–2004 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem