AirNow city lookup
Live city AQI with a Berkeley Earth PM2.5 comparison
Select a supported city to inspect the reporting-area reading and forecast. Static baselines, partial responses, and non-PM2.5 readings are never presented as a live Berkeley Earth comparison.
Data status
Live current + forecast
Current observations and forecasts come from the US EPA AirNow network. Current AQI is an area-level NowCast; local smoke shifts can still change conditions quickly.
Current area-level AQI
AQI 22
Pollutant: PM2.5
Reporting area: Central LA CO, CA
Observed: 2026-09-03 21:00 PST
Good
Berkeley Earth comparison (if this PM2.5 level persisted for 24 hours)
≈ 0.18 cigarette-equivalents
This is Berkeley Earth's rough population health-impact comparison for risk communication—not particle mass, inhaled dose, cigarettes actually smoked, personal risk, or diagnosis.
Forecast
2026-09-04
AQI 53
PM2.5 · Moderate
API adapter details
The default AirNow latitude/longitude endpoints are scheduled for retirement in fall 2026. The server adapter supports replacement URLs through AIRNOW_OBSERVATION_ENDPOINT and AIRNOW_FORECAST_ENDPOINT.
Request generated: Sep 4, 2026, 6:57 AM UTC
What “live” means here
AirNow current values are reporting-area NowCast readings, not a sensor at your exact GPS point.
The API returns pollutant-specific observations. A comparison is shown only when the selected current observation is PM2.5.
The 24-hour result is Berkeley Earth's rough population health-impact comparison under a persistence assumption; it is not particle mass, inhaled dose, cigarettes smoked, personal risk, or diagnosis.
Observation and forecast requests fail independently, so one useful result remains visible when the other source is unavailable.
Trust Signals
Live-data limitations and sources
Review policy
August 8, 2026. We update supporting pages when calculator logic, live data behavior, or source framing changes.
Primary sources
AQI uses EPA / AirNow breakpoint logic. Cigarette-equivalent framing follows Berkeley Earth’s PM2.5 interpretation.
Live data layer
City pages use EPA AirNow where supported, with cached fallbacks and planning baselines if the API fails or coverage is unavailable.
Live AQI questions
Why do I see a planning baseline instead of live data?
AirNow may not cover the country, the server key may not be configured, or the API may be unavailable. Baselines are labeled and are not used as current readings.
Why is the Berkeley Earth comparison disabled for ozone?
The comparison starts from confirmed PM2.5 mass concentration. Ozone is a gas, so the Berkeley Earth PM2.5 framework does not apply.
Is the reading exactly at my location?
No. The AirNow current endpoint returns a reporting-area NowCast selected near the city coordinates.