Air Quality in Santa Ana, California — Live

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

Live Santa Ana AQI from nearby PurpleAir sensors loads when this page opens in a browser, along with a live sensor map covering Santa Ana and Tustin, Orange, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa.

Santa Ana's air problem is not fire — it is traffic, past and present. The city packs roughly 310,000 people into 27 square miles, a density of about 11,350 people per square mile, with the I-5 and SR-55 cutting through it and the 22 running along the top. The legacy shows up in the ground: a 2020 UC Irvine study of more than 1,500 soil samples found lead above California EPA's recommended threshold in 52.7 percent of residential samples, concentrated in the city's lowest-income census tracts. Smoke, when it comes, generally arrives from fires in the canyons east of the city rather than from anything burning nearby.

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.

The lead in the soil came out of tailpipes

UC Irvine researchers working with Orange County Environmental Justice and local residents have produced the most specific environmental research any Orange County city has about itself. The 2020 study found that census tracts with lower household income, more children, more renters and fewer college graduates carried substantially higher soil lead. Two 2022 follow-ups combined archival research on historical traffic patterns with lead isotope analysis and concluded that vehicle emissions, not paint, were the dominant source.

The city responded: in September 2021 the council passed a climate emergency resolution that also committed it to investigating and limiting lead exposure, with renter protections so remediation would not displace people. Worth being clear about what this is and is not — air sensors do not measure lead. This is soil and dust, not something an AQI reading captures. It matters here because it is the same exposure pathway a century later: exhaust that settled out of the air onto the ground people live on.

Smoke here arrives from somewhere else

No wildfire has burned into Santa Ana in the recent record. What reaches the city comes from the canyons east of Orange County. In October 2020 the Silverado and Blue Ridge fires put central Orange County on the air district's direct-impact list, and that December the Bond and Airport fires produced readings from Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups to Unhealthy across the county.

The January 2025 Los Angeles fires were milder here than on the coast. Forecasts allowed that PM2.5 in northern and central Orange County might reach Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, but for much of that stretch Orange County stayed in the Good to Moderate range while Los Angeles County was Unhealthy to Hazardous. Distance and wind direction matter more than proximity to any one fire.

One thing the name does not explain

The Santa Ana winds are not named after Santa Ana. They take their name from the Santa Ana Canyon, up on Anaheim's eastern edge, where the winds funnel hardest between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Chino Hills. Local history records that Santa Ana's own Chamber of Commerce once objected to the association and pressed the Santa Ana Register's editor to stop using the name, preferring Riverside winds instead.

It did not take. The winds still matter here — they drive the region's worst fire weather, and they are what carries canyon smoke over the city — but the name is a geographic accident rather than a local claim.

Santa Ana air quality FAQ

Why is there smoke in Santa Ana today?

Almost always it has blown in from a fire outside the city. The canyons east of Orange County are the usual source: in October 2020 the Silverado and Blue Ridge fires had central Orange County on the air district's direct-impact list, and that December the Bond and Airport fires produced Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups to Unhealthy readings across the county. Smoke can also drift down from Los Angeles County. No wildfire has burned into Santa Ana itself in the recent record.

What is the air quality in Santa Ana right now?

This page shows the current AQI for Santa Ana, calculated from PurpleAir sensors across the city and updated continuously. The map below shows every live sensor, so you can check the reading closest to your own neighborhood.

Is the lead study something I should worry about?

It is worth knowing about, and it is not something an air quality app measures. The 2020 UC Irvine study found lead above California EPA's recommended threshold in 52.7 percent of residential soil samples, with the highest levels in the lowest-income neighborhoods, and 2022 follow-ups traced it to historical leaded-gasoline exhaust. That is soil and dust, not airborne particulate. For guidance on testing and reducing exposure, talk to the county health agency or your doctor.

Are the Santa Ana winds named after this city?

No, and locals here once actively resisted the association. The winds are named for the Santa Ana Canyon on Anaheim's eastern edge, where they blow hardest through the gap between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Chino Hills. Santa Ana's Chamber of Commerce once asked the Santa Ana Register to stop using the name.

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.