Bad Air Days in Washington County, Nebraska: 1 a Year

1 bad air day a year

Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 665 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (100% particle days).

Which months to watch

Most bad days here fall in July and September and May and August. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.

What to buy, and what not to

Bad air days are rare here. A standard furnace filter is enough; no purifier needed for outdoor air.
On the odd bad day, check AirNow and keep windows shut.

The record for Washington

The worst recent year was 2023, with 4 bad days on 360 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2023-09-06	154	PM2.5
2025-08-01	132	PM2.5
2021-07-30	125	PM2.5
2023-05-18	119	PM2.5
2023-09-07	106	PM2.5

An ordinary day in Washington

Across 2,038 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Washington County rated Good on 81% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 19%. The median day sat at AQI 31; one day in ten went above 54.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)100%2,038 days

Every recent year on file

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	336	291	44	1	0	27	132
2024	354	268	86	0	0	34	81
2023	360	258	98	4	1	33	154
2022	299	280	19	0	0	19	64
2021	109	83	25	1	0	37	125
2020	110	93	17	0	0	31	75
2019	116	95	21	0	0	34	78
2018	116	86	30	0	0	39	95
2017	121	91	30	0	0	35	68
2016	117	96	21	0	0	32	66
2015	116	94	22	0	0	33	79
2014	109	80	29	0	0	35	91
2013	116	79	36	1	0	37	101
2012	113	65	48	0	0	46	91
2011	113	64	49	0	0	44	88
2010	120	74	45	1	0	44	106

*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.

Nearby counties on file

How this is counted

A bad air day is a day the county's daily AQI from EPA AirData went above 100, the level where EPA tells children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease to cut back outdoors. Monitors do not run every day, so yearly counts are scaled to 365 days. This is the record, not today's air: for that, check AirNow. More on the method in how the county numbers are made, on the AQI 100 line in what counts as a bad air day.