Air Quality in Phoenix, Arizona — Live
Live readings from PurpleAir sensors across Phoenix — with free alerts the moment the air turns.
AQI 7 from 5 PurpleAir sensors · Holding steady · data from PurpleAir
As of , the air quality in Phoenix, Arizona is AQI 7 — Good and holding steady — with PM2.5 at 1.3 µg/m³, the median of 5 live PurpleAir sensors reading 6 to 21. Canairy's verdict: Breathe easy.
For scale, that PM2.5 reading is below the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The WHO figure is a daily average and this is a live reading, so read it as a sense of magnitude rather than a formal exceedance — a brief spike and a bad day are not the same thing. More on the WHO guidelines
Pollen today in Phoenix: grass pollen is the strongest of the three at a moderate level, from Google's pollen forecast. Canairy shows the tree, grass and weed forecast beside the air reading on every plan, including the free one.
Free to download · Live data from PurpleAir & public monitors
Live PurpleAir sensor map for Phoenix and Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale, Peoria. Every dot is a real sensor, color-coded by current air quality.
Sensor by sensor in Phoenix
The sensors Canairy reads in Phoenix agree right now — all 5 sit in the Good band, a 15-point spread — so the city-wide number is a fair description of the whole area today.
| From city center | AQI | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1.6 mi NNW | 7 | Good |
| 3.4 mi NNE | 7 | Good |
| 4.8 mi NNE | 21 | Good |
| 5.6 mi NNE | 6 | Good |
| 11.5 mi NE | 9 | Good |
Phoenix does not have one air problem. It has three, and they arrive in different seasons. In the American Lung Association's 2026 State of the Air report, which covers 2022 through 2024, the Phoenix-Mesa metro ranked fourth worst in the country for ozone, with Maricopa County averaging 58.2 unhealthy ozone days a year and an F grade. The county also moved the wrong way on soot in that report, to 17th worst nationally for short-term particle pollution and 15th for year-round. On top of that sits the monsoon, which can push dust readings from ordinary to extreme in minutes, and the cold months, when still nights hold exhaust and wood smoke close to the ground.
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What the air in Phoenix is doing next
| When | AQI | Expected air quality | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 64 | Moderate | ozone |
| Tomorrow | 49 | Good | ozone |
| Sunday | 44 | Good | ozone |
| Monday | 53 | Moderate | PM10 |
[View the ADEQ Hourly Forecast for Phoenix] Yesterday, ozone was able to reach the low end of the Moderate AQI category at a few monitors. Breezes helped to limit how ozone was able to reach. However, dust did occur early this morning, which is why PM 10 (dust) has been running a bit elevated this morning at several monitoring sites. Looking ahead, ozone is forecast in the Moderate AQI category today and Friday, given typical weekday local activities and similar conditions as yesterday. Then by the weekend, ozone is forecast to decrease because of a low-pressure pattern influencing the region's weather. In regards to PM 10 (dust), PM 10 will be locally driven in the mornings when conditions are more stagnant. But, we also can't rule out the possibility of wind-driven dust in the evenings/nights. Hourly forecast graphs for the next couple of days reflect this. In general, highest PM 10 levels are expected in industrial areas south/southwest of the Phoenix metro area. Lastly, PM 2.5 (smoke) will generally follow PM 10 trends. Check back tomorrow for the latest. M. Graves https://azdeq.gov/forecast/phoenix Last Update: Thursday, September 10, 2026, 9:03 AM
Forecast from EPA AirNow for the Phoenix reporting area. Canairy watches the live sensors against it and tells you when the air actually crosses your threshold, rather than leaving you to check.
Heat is what turns exhaust into ozone
Maricopa County calls April through September its ozone season, and the reason is chemistry rather than smokestacks. Ozone is not emitted directly; it forms when nitrogen oxides and organic vapours from vehicles, gas-powered equipment and industry react in strong sunlight, and a Phoenix summer supplies more of that than almost anywhere in the country. ADEQ issues a High Pollution Advisory when the forecast crosses 100 AQI. During one, the county prohibits residential wood burning in fireplaces, chimineas and outdoor fire pits, and stops government crews running leaf blowers.
The federal picture here is unusual. The Phoenix-Mesa area missed its 3 August 2024 deadline to meet the 2015 ozone standard of 70 parts per billion, which would normally mean being bumped from Moderate to Serious nonattainment and facing tougher permitting and emission offset requirements. On 23 March 2026 the EPA decided not to make that move, finding the area would have met the standard but for emissions arriving from outside the United States — a case the Maricopa Association of Governments filed on 24 September 2025. The classification stayed put. The air on a July afternoon did not change.
Haboobs are the air quality event you can watch coming
The Arizona monsoon runs June through September, and collapsing thunderstorms send out downdrafts that lift a wall of desert dust ahead of them. The benchmark is 5 July 2011, when EPA monitors near Phoenix recorded peak hourly readings of 1,974 micrograms per cubic metre of PM10 and 907 of PM2.5, figures published by Raman, Arellano and Brost in Atmospheric Environment. The outflows that produced it formed from thunderstorms southeast of Tucson and merged as they reached the Valley, with gusts near 29 metres per second.
Researchers at Arizona State, working with the National Weather Service and ADEQ, now grade these events on a five-category PHX-DUST scale built from PM10, wind and duration. A storm counts as Widespread when more than half the region's monitoring stations pass 500 micrograms per cubic metre, Long-Duration once it runs three hours or more, and High Wind Gust above 25 mph. The storm that crossed the Valley on 12 July 2026, cutting visibility on Loop 202 and I-10 with gusts near 39 mph, was rated a Category 3.
Winter is when the brown cloud shows up
The haze that settles over the Valley on cold, windless days is a different mix from summer's. It is largely fine particles from combustion — vehicle exhaust and wood smoke — held near the ground, blended with coarse desert dust. The county manages it separately: under the P-26 residential wood burning restriction ordinance, Maricopa County declares a No Burn Day once PM10 is forecast at 83 AQI or PM2.5 at 89, and residential fireplaces, chimineas and outdoor fire pits have to stay unlit.
Dust control is written into the rulebook year-round too. Under Rule 310.01, an open area or vacant lot with more than 500 square feet disturbed that sits unused and undeveloped for more than 15 days has to be stabilised — surface gravel, a dust suppressant, or planted ground cover. Metro Phoenix has been a serious nonattainment area for PM10 since the 1990s, and the reason has less to do with industry than with bare ground, unpaved surfaces and wind.
Phoenix air quality FAQ
What is the air quality in Phoenix right now?
As of September 11, 2026 at 5:10 AM MST, the air quality in Phoenix, Arizona is AQI 7 — Good — with PM2.5 at 1.3 µg/m³, the median of 5 live PurpleAir sensors. Open the windows. Great for outdoor activity.
Why is there dust or smoke in Phoenix today?
In summer, start with the monsoon. Collapsing thunderstorm outflows push walls of dust across the Valley from June through September, and PM10 can go from ordinary to extreme within minutes before dropping just as fast. If it is smoke rather than dust, look northeast and east: the Bush Fire burned 193,455 acres in the Tonto National Forest in June 2020 and the Telegraph Fire burned 180,757 acres near Superior in June 2021, both within easy smoke range. Smoke from California fires reaches Arizona too, sometimes on the same days an ozone advisory is already in force. On a cold winter evening, a low grey layer over the city is more likely wood smoke and exhaust trapped by an inversion.
Should I worry about valley fever when it is dusty?
Valley fever comes from breathing in spores of a fungus that lives in desert soil, and it is common here — Maricopa County recorded 3,936 confirmed cases in the first half of 2026, including 633 in June alone. It does not pass from person to person. The county's advice overlaps neatly with dust advice: stay inside with windows closed when it is dusty, keep car windows up and the air on recirculate while driving through blowing dust, and avoid construction and excavation sites where soil is being turned over. One honest caveat — a PurpleAir sensor measures particles, not fungal spores, so the readings here tell you about dust, not directly about valley fever risk.
When is the air in Phoenix usually worst?
Two seasons, for two different reasons. April through September is Maricopa County's ozone season, when heat and sunlight turn traffic and equipment exhaust into ground-level ozone, and ADEQ issues High Pollution Advisories above 100 AQI. June through September overlaps that with the monsoon, adding sudden PM10 spikes from dust storms. Then in the cold months, still nights trap fine particles from exhaust and wood burning near the ground, which is when the county declares No Burn Days. Worth knowing: PurpleAir sensors measure particles, so they catch dust and smoke well and do not read ozone at all.
What the AQI numbers mean
| AQI | Category | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good | Open the windows. Great for outdoor activity. |
| 51–100 | Moderate | Sensitive groups may want to take it slower outside. |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | Kids, elderly, and respiratory conditions stay closer to home. |
| 151–200 | Unhealthy | Skip outdoor exercise. Close windows. |
| 201–300 | Very Unhealthy | Limit time outside. N95 if you must go. |
| 301+ | Hazardous | Health emergency. Stay inside, run filtration if you have it. |
Canairy lets you tighten these bands if you’re more sensitive than the EPA default, so an alert can fire before the official category changes. How to read the Air Quality Index
Where these readings come from
The AQI at the top of this page is the median of the 5 curated PurpleAir sensors Canairy tracks in and around Phoenix, with outliers set aside so that one sensor brought indoors — or parked beside a barbecue — cannot set the number for a whole city. Every sensor behind it is listed above with its distance and bearing from the city center. There is no black box here.
In the app, a place you save resolves the same way first. When no neighborhood sensor is reporting it falls back to the nearest EPA AirNow monitor, and anything modeled rather than measured is labelled a regional estimate rather than passed off as a sensor reading. How low-cost sensors compare to regulatory monitors
About Canairy
Canairy is free to download. The free plan covers one saved place with live readings, a plain-English verdict, and push alerts when the air crosses a threshold you choose. Paid plans add more places, faster refreshes, and SMS alerts. It is built by two parents in Sonoma County, California, who got tired of guessing whether it was safe to send the kids outside. Why we built it
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