Dust / Smoke

Honesty note: CAMS separates dust (desert surface class) from smoke/haze aloft (high AOD, low dust) reliably. Which desert or whose fire is seasonal inference only — Saharan-typical May–Sep on the coast; West Texas dust when only Lubbock/Midland/Abilene are dusty; Mexico ag-fire smoke typical Apr–Jun; Canadian wildfire smoke typical Jul–Sep. We never claim more than that.

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Today + 5-day forecast (Weighted ERCOT)
TODAY ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-20 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.18 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-21 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-22 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-23 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.24 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-24 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.25 · dust 0
int 1/3
Worst dust city today
Lubbock
Dust 1 µg/m³ · AOD 0.17 · Clear
2026-09-19 (forecast)
Worst US AQI city today
Houston
US AQI 99 · dust 0
2026-09-19 (forecast)
2026-01 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
01-01 Clear 0.14 3 11 Midland (35) actual
01-02 Clear 0.12 4 9 Midland (24) actual
01-03 Clear 0.08 11 9 San Antonio (31) actual
01-04 Clear 0.14 0 13 Brownsville (4) actual
01-05 Clear 0.18 3 15 Midland (29) actual
01-06 Hazy 0.21 4 16 Midland (17) actual
01-07 Hazy 0.22 2 20 Lubbock (4) actual
01-08 Smoke / haze aloft 0.31 5 14 Midland (46) actual
01-09 Smoke / haze aloft 0.45 9 17 Midland (36) actual
01-10 Hazy 0.27 3 12 Austin (8) actual
01-11 Clear 0.15 1 15 Abilene (2) actual
01-12 Clear 0.17 0 20 Abilene (1) actual
01-13 Hazy 0.26 0 20 Lubbock (4) actual
01-14 Clear 0.13 0 12 Midland (4) actual
01-15 Clear 0.09 2 10 Midland (40) actual
01-16 Clear 0.11 2 9 Midland (24) actual
01-17 Clear 0.12 0 6 Abilene (0) actual
01-18 Clear 0.05 1 13 Midland (7) actual
01-19 Clear 0.12 1 17 Lubbock (5) actual
01-20 Hazy 0.27 1 14 Austin (1) actual
01-21 Hazy 0.28 1 16 Lubbock (2) actual
01-22 Hazy 0.25 1 19 Lubbock (2) actual
01-23 Smoke / haze aloft 0.33 0 15 DFW (1) actual
01-24 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 0 9 Wichita Falls (1) actual
01-25 Hazy 0.25 0 13 Lubbock (2) actual
01-26 Clear 0.15 1 24 Abilene (2) actual
01-27 Clear 0.19 1 29 Midland (4) actual
01-28 Clear 0.14 2 36 Midland (4) actual
01-29 Hazy 0.21 1 33 Wichita Falls (3) actual
01-30 Hazy 0.26 1 33 Tyler (2) actual
01-31 Hazy 0.22 0 22 Abilene (1) actual
All-time top dust days
Date City Dust AOD Class
2024-07-13 Brownsville 118 0.41 Saharan dust
2024-03-24 Midland 110 0.23 Desert dust
2026-09-15 Corpus Christi 110 0.31 Saharan dust
2024-07-13 McAllen 105 0.48 Saharan dust
2026-09-15 Brownsville 96 0.35 Saharan dust
2024-02-03 Midland 95 0.20 Desert dust
2024-07-30 Corpus Christi 95 0.40 Saharan dust
2024-07-31 Corpus Christi 94 0.40 Saharan dust
2026-06-29 Tyler 93 0.32 Saharan dust
2024-07-01 Corpus Christi 92 0.33 Saharan dust
All-time top smoke days (dust < 10)
Date City AOD Dust Class
2024-06-02 Tyler 1.86 3 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-16 Houston 1.70 2 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-28 DFW 1.45 3 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-02 Tyler 1.39 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-22 Tyler 1.32 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2025-04-19 DFW 1.23 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2025-04-19 Wichita Falls 1.23 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-29 Abilene 1.22 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-13 Houston 1.21 1 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)
2024-05-30 Abilene 1.21 2 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun)

Plan 3 Part D2 · Classifier heuristics in config (AIR_DUST_UG_MIN etc.) · Data from CityAir / DailyAir (CAMS via Open-Meteo).