Glitch on Apple Weather and Google Shows Scary Air Quality in Chicago

Readings from several popular weather apps had people across Chicago spending much of Wednesday wondering whether their air was safe to breathe — until the dangerously unhealthy levels were revealed to be a glitch.Early in the morning, Google’s air quality map showed that Chicago had the worst air in the country.Apple’s weather app, too, showed that the Air Quality Index had climbed into the 400s, a reading so hazardous that people are encouraged to stay indoors.

(The Air Quality Index, which ranges from 0 to 500, is a measure of the density of five pollutants in the air: ground-level ozone, particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.)To put that in perspective, that’s as high as the levels reached in 2023 when smoke from wildfires in Canada blanketed much of the East Coast and turned the sky in New York City orange.At those levels, people are advised to stay indoors, and Madeline Blair, 24, did just that.She checked her Apple weather app when she woke up and, seeing unhealthy air quality levels, skipped her morning walk.

Ms.Blair instead headed down into her basement to retrieve her air filter.“I live on the northwest side, and my area on the map was dark purple on the Apple radar, so I’m like, No thanks, I’m just staying inside,” Ms.

Blair said.(That color would indicate the air quality is at hazardous levels.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....