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Free heat and air quality tools answer different questions: use AirNow for current and forecast outdoor air quality and wildfire smoke, CDC/NOAA HeatRisk for a health-focused seven-day heat outlook, and CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network for historical, projected and community-level heat-health information. For quick personal decisions, start with the tool that matches the hazard and time horizon; no single dashboard covers all of them.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Free plan / price | Platforms | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AirNow website and map | Local outdoor AQI, forecasts and smoke maps | Search by city, state or ZIP; includes current conditions and forecasts | Free | Web | November 2026 |
| AirNow mobile app | Quick checks for home and destination | Current and forecast AQI; saves multiple places; includes Fire and Smoke Map | Free | iOS, Android | November 2026 |
| CDC/NOAA HeatRisk | Planning around near-term heat-health risk | Health-based seven-day outlook with five risk levels | Free | Web | November 2026 |
| EnviroFlash | Email or cell-phone AQI forecasts and action-day notices | Coverage depends on participating local agencies | Free | Email, cell phone | November 2026 |
| CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network | Historical, projected and community heat-health context | County indicators, maps, tables and charts; some measures are estimates or projections | Free | Web | November 2026 |
Which free tool should I use for a decision today?
For outdoor air quality, check AirNow; for heat-related health risk over the coming week, check HeatRisk. If you want an alert rather than having to remember to check, see whether EnviroFlash serves your area. The CDC Tracking Network is for understanding patterns and community context, not deciding whether it is safe to go outside this afternoon.
These services complement rather than replace one another. An air-quality forecast does not tell you the heat-health outlook, a temperature forecast does not describe particle pollution, and historical county data is not a live warning. If both smoke and heat are concerns, check both AirNow and HeatRisk before making plans.
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A useful way to choose is to match the question to the tool’s time horizon and geographic scale:
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- “What is the air quality near me?” AirNow gives a local current reading and forecast; its map and app are also useful when the place you care about changes.
- “Is wildfire smoke affecting this area?” Open AirNow’s Fire and Smoke Map for smoke-specific context, rather than inferring smoke conditions from a temperature forecast.
- “How can I check heat risk for the next week?” HeatRisk provides a health-based seven-day outlook, not just a temperature value.
- “How has heat affected this county, or what risks should local planners consider?” Use the Tracking Network’s historical indicators, estimates, projections and vulnerability or preparedness measures, keeping their scale and methods in view.
For a day that may involve both hazards, check the location and date in each relevant tool. The AQI and HeatRisk scales describe different hazards, so a color or category in one should not be used to interpret the other. For a community comparison, the CDC network is the better fit; for an individual’s plans today, use current and forecast tools instead.
How do I check local air quality and wildfire smoke?
AirNow is the most direct official starting point for U.S. outdoor AQI. It provides current readings and forecasts, a map, and access to its Fire and Smoke Map and other air-quality resources.
- Open AirNow.gov.
- Enter a city, state or ZIP code to look up the area you care about.
- Review the current AQI and the forecast. If wildfire smoke is relevant, open the Fire and Smoke Map rather than relying on a general weather or temperature forecast.
- If you are traveling or planning an outdoor activity, search the destination as well as your home area. Conditions can differ between locations.
- Use the linked resources for additional context, such as monitor maps, past data, state resources or the AirNow API, if you need more than the quick local view.
Think of the place you search as part of the question. A reading for home may not describe a destination, and a county-level historical indicator elsewhere in CDC’s tools is not a substitute for a current AirNow view. If plans change locations, check the new location rather than carrying over the earlier result.
The free AirNow app is a useful alternative when you check more than one location regularly. EPA describes it as available for iOS and Android, with current and forecast AQI, the ability to store multiple areas and access to the Fire and Smoke Map. That makes it convenient to check home and destination without entering each location from scratch.
AirNow reports the U.S. Air Quality Index, or AQI. The AQI reflects common outdoor pollutants—ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide—and its displayed value is based on whichever pollutant has the highest concentration. It is a useful summary, but it is not a measurement of every possible respiratory trigger.
How should I read the AQI categories?
| AQI range | Category |
|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good |
| 51–100 | Moderate |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups |
| 151–200 | Unhealthy |
| 201–300 | Very Unhealthy |
| 301–500 | Hazardous |
These six categories span the AQI’s 0–500 scale. CDC notes that some sensitive people may experience worsened symptoms even when the AQI is in the 51–100 Moderate range. A low AQI also does not mean pollen is low: pollen is not included in the AQI, so people with seasonal allergies may still have symptoms on a day with a favorable air-quality reading. See CDC’s explanation of HeatRisk and AQI for its interpretation guidance.
Use the categories as a common communication scale, not as a complete inventory of everything that can affect breathing or comfort. If the AQI is Moderate, that still may matter to some sensitive people; if the AQI is Good, pollen or another trigger outside the AQI’s scope may still be relevant. The scale is about the reported pollutants, not a promise that every person will feel the same way.
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How can I get air-quality alerts without checking a map?
EnviroFlash can send AQI forecasts and action-day notifications by email or cell phone, but it is not available everywhere. EPA and state or local agencies support the service, and not every agency that issues AirNow forecasts participates.
Go to EnviroFlash and check whether your ZIP code or area is served before relying on it. If it is available, follow the service’s sign-up steps for the delivery option you prefer. If your area is not listed, use AirNow’s website or app for manual checks and look to local public-health or air-agency channels for any additional local alerts. Do not assume that not receiving an EnviroFlash notice means air quality is good; the service’s geographic coverage is limited by participation.
Alerts are most useful as a prompt to check the conditions and plan; they do not remove the need to confirm the relevant place and forecast. If you travel outside the area you registered, the notice for your home area may not answer what is happening at your destination. Keep a direct AirNow check available for places beyond the alert’s coverage.
How do I check heat risk for the next week?
Use CDC/NOAA HeatRisk for a health-oriented heat outlook over seven days. CDC describes it as a “health-based heat forecast.” It is developed by NOAA’s National Weather Service and CDC, and it uses local relationships between heat and health, varies with location and time of year, and accounts for humid air.
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Open the CDC HeatRisk guidance and tool, choose the location you need, and review the seven-day outlook and its five risk levels. The forecast is intended to help people plan around health risk; it is not merely a display of the expected temperature. Check the outlook for the relevant location and date, especially when plans involve time outdoors or depend on heat-sensitive people.
The five levels are a way to communicate HeatRisk’s outlook, not a guarantee about what will happen to any one person. Risk varies with location and time of year, and the tool accounts for humid air and local relationships between heat and health. That is why it can add context beyond asking only how hot the forecast temperature will be.
Temperature and heat index remain useful weather information, but they do not convey all the same context as HeatRisk. In particular, a single temperature value cannot by itself express how local heat-health relationships, humidity and time of year factor into the tool’s risk outlook. Treat HeatRisk as an additional planning signal, not a guarantee that a particular person will or will not become ill.
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For practical next steps during a heat event, the CDC heat-event resource points readers to HeatRisk, tracking resources, cooling-center information and heat precautions. If a dashboard or embedded view is unavailable, try the HeatRisk guidance, National Weather Service forecast tools or local public-health resources rather than assuming there is no heat risk.
For a near-term decision, keep the time window in mind: HeatRisk’s seven-day outlook can support planning ahead, while a community trend or projection describes a different period and purpose. Recheck the relevant location and dates as plans approach; a county projection should not be read as that week’s forecast.
Where can I find longer-term heat and health information for my community?
The CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network is the better fit for historical indicators, modeled projections and county-level community context. It helps readers explore patterns and potential vulnerability; it is not a substitute for a current forecast or an individual medical assessment.
The network includes county-level heat projections; historical temperature and heat-index indicators; estimates of heat-related emergency visits and hospitalizations; mortality measures; and indicators related to vulnerability and preparedness. Its Data Explorer supports custom maps, tables and charts. Quick Reports provide a simpler route into the available information. Start at the CDC heat and heat-related illness tracking page to find the relevant data resources.
If you are just getting oriented, Quick Reports are a simpler starting point; use the Data Explorer when you want to build a custom map, table or chart. Before comparing places, identify the indicator, time period and geographic scale. A historical heat-index indicator, an estimate of heat-related health-care use and a modeled projection are not interchangeable measures, even if they appear in the same program.
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Use this network when the question is about how heat exposure or health indicators have varied, how communities compare, or what projections and vulnerability measures may matter for preparedness. Use HeatRisk when the question is whether the coming days bring elevated heat-health risk. Using both can add context, but their data answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable.
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These tools serve different audiences as well as different time horizons. A person deciding whether to adjust plans should look to current forecasts and local public-health guidance. A public-health or community planner may find historical outcomes, vulnerability indicators and projections more useful for understanding preparedness needs. The network can inform that broader picture, but its county-level view cannot settle a household-level question.
Can an indoor air-quality monitor add useful information?
An indoor PM2.5 monitor can provide additional observations inside a home, but buying one is optional and it does not replace AirNow, outdoor smoke information or official advisories. The free tools above cover the core outdoor-air and heat questions without requiring a purchase.
EPA notes that lower-cost portable air sensors are widely used to understand air-quality conditions, and its Air Sensor Toolbox offers guidance on sensor performance, operation, evaluation and data interpretation. That guidance matters because consumer devices can differ: do not assume every sensor is accurate, equivalent to a regulatory monitor, or measuring the pollutant you care about.
If you decide an indoor sensor is useful, compare the pollutant it measures, the evidence available for its performance, any calibration or maintenance expectations, and whether its display or app makes the readings understandable. Decide whether you need indoor particle observations specifically or are looking for outdoor conditions; those are different use cases. A device reading is one source of information, not an official outdoor AQI forecast.
There is no need to buy a monitor just to get the core information in this guide. AirNow supplies outdoor AQI and smoke resources, HeatRisk covers the short-term heat outlook, and CDC tracking resources cover community context. An indoor sensor answers a narrower question—what its device observes indoors—and should be considered only if that added information is useful to you.
What are the most important limits of these tools?
- AQI is not an all-trigger index. It summarizes specified common pollutants, not pollen. A low AQI can coexist with high pollen or allergy symptoms.
- Alerts are not universal. EnviroFlash depends on local agency participation. Check area availability and retain another way to check conditions.
- HeatRisk is a forecast, not a personal diagnosis. It gives a health-oriented outlook based on location and time, but cannot determine an individual’s health outcome.
- Tracking data is not live weather. Historical measures, estimates and projections require attention to their method, time period and geographic scale.
- Consumer sensors need scrutiny. A lower-cost sensor may be useful for indoor observations, but performance and interpretation vary by device.
- Dashboards can be temporarily unavailable. If a CDC dashboard view does not load, consult the linked CDC guidance, National Weather Service forecast tools or local public-health resources.
One practical safeguard is to match each result to its source and scale: outdoor AQI for outdoor pollutant conditions, HeatRisk for the coming week’s heat-health outlook, local alert coverage for notification availability, and CDC tracking indicators for longer-term community information. None of these should be substituted for another simply because the pages all discuss environmental health.
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The tools are included because they are free public resources that directly address at least one part of the reader’s question: current or forecast outdoor air, wildfire smoke, short-term heat-health risk, local alerts, or longer-term community heat-health information. They are ordered by immediate personal usefulness first, then alert delivery and longer-term context. The optional indoor sensor discussion is limited to what EPA’s guidance supports; it is not a product ranking or an endorsement of a particular device.
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The selection also distinguishes tools by purpose rather than ranking them on a single score. AirNow’s map and app are practical for checking current and forecast outdoor conditions in chosen places; EnviroFlash adds notifications where local agencies participate; HeatRisk looks ahead seven days through a health-risk lens; and the Tracking Network helps explore community indicators and projections. The right free tool is therefore the one that matches the decision, location and time period you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the AQI tell me whether the air is safe for my pet?
The AQI is designed to communicate outdoor air pollution, not to provide an individualized health assessment for people or animals. For a pet-specific decision, consult a veterinarian and consider local smoke or pollution conditions rather than treating an AQI category as a guarantee.
Can I use heat and air-quality tools if I have asthma or another chronic condition?
Yes, they can help you see environmental conditions and plan questions for a clinician, but they do not replace your personal care plan. Because CDC notes that some sensitive people may experience symptoms even in the Moderate AQI band, follow the advice you have received from your health professional.
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No. County-level projections describe modeled patterns at a broader geographic scale, not the exact conditions or outcome for a particular neighborhood or household. Pair them with a current local forecast when making near-term plans.
Do I need to buy an air sensor to use these free tools?
No. AirNow, HeatRisk, EnviroFlash where available, and CDC tracking resources can be used without buying an indoor monitor. A sensor is only an optional way to add indoor particulate observations, and its readings should be interpreted with device-specific performance limitations in mind.
Does a low AQI mean pollen is low too?
No. Pollen is not included in the AQI. A low AQI can still coincide with pollen-related allergy symptoms.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Use AirNow for local outdoor AQI and wildfire smoke, HeatRisk for the next seven days of health-focused heat planning, and CDC’s Tracking Network for historical, projected and county-level community context. EnviroFlash can add email or cell alerts where local agencies participate. You can use these core tools for free; an indoor PM2.5 monitor is optional and should complement—not replace—outdoor forecasts and official guidance.
