Weather
An air quality widget for your desktop
Pick a place once, and the Air Quality widget keeps its US air quality index on your DashSuey board, with PM2.5, PM10, ozone and nitrogen dioxide beside it, on every computer you sign in on. You need no API key, and there is nothing to install.
- Needs
- A place. No API key.
- Reads from
- OpenWeather's hourly pollutant readings, through DashSuey
- Updates
- Every half hour while your board is showing
On your board, beside the sky and the day
Air quality next to the weather, the forecast and sunrise and sunset. The board is saved to your account, so it looks the same on every computer you sign in on.
Clock
Forecast
Sunrise & Sunset
The Air Quality tile is a real capture from September 29, 2026; the others are live, for the place your connection suggests, or Chicago when it cannot tell. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).
What it shows
- The index
- The US AQI, the EPA's scale, colored by the EPA's six categories from Good to Hazardous, on a gauge that runs to 500.
- In words
- The EPA's own description of the category, word for word.
- The pollutants
- PM2.5, PM10, ozone and nitrogen dioxide, in micrograms per cubic meter. The highest of their indexes is the AQI.
- Place
- A town you type, or your board's place until you do.
- Freshness
- A new reading every half hour while your board is showing. A reading that is not the latest says what time it is from.
- Where it lives
- On your board, saved to your account, and the same on every computer you sign in on.
Where the number comes from
DashSuey asks OpenWeather's Air Pollution service for the latest hourly readings for your place, with its own key, and works the US AQI out from them with the EPA's breakpoints.
The EPA averages over 8 to 24 hours, and AirNow's current number looks back over several hours, so this one moves faster than an official AirNow reading. The widget says so, and for the official figure AirNow is the place to look.
What it does not do
- It isn't an official reading and gives no health advice beyond the EPA's own category descriptions.
- It shows the US AQI everywhere, not Canada's AQHI or other countries' indexes.
- It has no map, forecast or alerts.
Questions people ask
What is a good AQI?
The EPA calls 0 to 50 Good: "Air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk." The widget colors its number by the EPA's six categories, green for Good.
What does the AQI number mean?
The US AQI is the EPA's index for reporting air quality. It runs from 0 up, in six color-coded categories, and the higher the number, the greater the level of air pollution. Each pollutant gets its own index, and the highest one is the AQI. The widget works it out from PM2.5, PM10, ozone and nitrogen dioxide.
Is an AQI of 100 bad?
The EPA says that above 100, air quality is unhealthy: at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as the number rises. For what to do on a given day, AirNow is the place to look.
What happens when the AQI is over 300?
The EPA calls 301 and higher Hazardous: "Health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected." The widget's gauge runs to 500.
Why do different apps show different AQI numbers?
They start from different data, average it over different lengths of time, and some use scales of their own. The Air Quality widget uses OpenWeather's latest hourly readings and the EPA's breakpoints, so it moves faster than AirNow's number, and it says so.
Where does the data come from? Do I need an API key?
From OpenWeather's Air Pollution service, which DashSuey's server asks with its own key. You only pick a place. You need no OpenWeather account and no key.
What is PM2.5?
Fine particles in the air, generally 2.5 micrometers across and smaller; PM10 is particles generally 10 micrometers and smaller. The widget shows both, in micrograms per cubic meter.
Does it work outside the US?
It reads anywhere OpenWeather covers, but it always shows the US AQI scale, so a reading for Toronto or London is the US index for that place, not Canada's AQHI or the UK's index.
How often does the reading change?
OpenWeather's readings are hourly. The widget asks for a new one every half hour while your board is showing, and when you come back to the tab. A reading that isn't the latest says what time it's from.