Air Quality in Phoenix, Arizona — Live

Live readings from PurpleAir sensors across Phoenix — with free alerts the moment the air turns.

Live Phoenix AQI from nearby PurpleAir sensors loads when this page opens in a browser, along with a live sensor map covering Phoenix and Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale, Peoria.

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.

Canairy watches the sensors around your home, your kids' school, and everywhere else you care about, and tells you in plain English when the air changes enough to matter.

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

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.

What is the air quality in Phoenix right now?

This page shows the current AQI for Phoenix from PurpleAir sensors across the city, updated continuously. Phoenix is large enough that readings genuinely differ across it — the north Valley, downtown and the south mountain side can all read differently during a dust event — so the map below shows every live sensor and you can pick the one nearest you. Maricopa County also runs regulatory monitors in the city, including sites at 16th Street and Roosevelt, Central Avenue and Broadway, and 39th Avenue and Earll Drive.

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 AQI level is unhealthy?

Under the US EPA scale, AQI 0–50 is Good and 51–100 is Moderate. From 101 the air is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups — kids, older adults, and people with asthma or heart conditions — and above 150 it's Unhealthy for everyone. Canairy translates these numbers into a plain-English verdict, like whether to close the windows or move a workout indoors.

Is Canairy free?

Yes. The Canairy app is free to download and includes live air quality for all your saved places, plain-English verdicts, and free push alerts when the air crosses your threshold. A paid plan adds extras like SMS text alerts.

Get Canairy free on Google Play.