How bad does it smell right now?

Questions about Chattanooga's smell

Does Chattanooga stink today?

It depends on where you are and when you ask — which is exactly why this site exists. Chattanooga Stinks Today shows a live, crowdsourced heatmap of how bad it smells across the city right now, built from reports over the last 4 hours. Tap a rating at the top to add your own nose to the map.

Why does Chattanooga smell?

Chattanooga sits in a river valley ringed by ridges and mountains — Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. On calm days, temperature inversions trap air near the valley floor, holding onto odors from industry and traffic instead of letting them blow away. That same geography made Chattanooga one of the most air-polluted cities in the United States in the late 1960s. Air quality is far better today, but the valley can still concentrate smells. (This site collects opinions, not scientific air-quality measurements.)

Is the smell dangerous?

This map can't tell you that — the reports here are anonymous opinions, not air-quality data. If you smell gas, suspect a chemical leak, or sense any threat to health or safety, don't rely on this site: call 911 or your local utility right away. For official air-quality information, check the EPA's AirNow at airnow.gov.

How does the map stay anonymous?

Your browser rounds your location to a grid square about half a kilometre across before anything is sent, and we store only that grid square, your 1–5 rating, and the time. No accounts, no IP addresses, no cookies, no tracking, and reports are deleted within 24 hours. More in our privacy policy.