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.

« »
Today + 5-day forecast (Weighted ERCOT)
TODAY ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.18 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-21 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.20 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-22 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.20 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-23 ·fcst
Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep)
AOD 0.32 · dust 0
int 2/3
09-24 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.28 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-25 ·fcst
Clear
AOD — · dust —
int 0/3
Worst dust city today
Lubbock
Dust 3 µg/m³ · AOD 0.12 · Clear
2026-09-20 (forecast)
Worst US AQI city today
Houston
US AQI 67 · dust 0
2026-09-20 (forecast)
2024-10 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
10-01 Clear 0.14 0 15 Abilene (0) actual
10-02 Clear 0.17 1 15 Austin (2) actual
10-03 Clear 0.16 2 13 Abilene (3) actual
10-04 Clear 0.14 1 11 Midland (4) actual
10-05 Clear 0.18 0 12 Abilene (1) actual
10-06 Clear 0.17 0 13 Abilene (1) actual
10-07 Clear 0.20 1 15 Abilene (1) actual
10-08 Hazy 0.20 1 16 McAllen (4) actual
10-09 Clear 0.17 1 18 Lubbock (3) actual
10-10 Clear 0.18 1 16 Lubbock (3) actual
10-11 Hazy 0.21 0 15 Lubbock (4) actual
10-12 Clear 0.19 1 13 Lubbock (6) actual
10-13 Clear 0.15 1 11 Abilene (1) actual
10-14 Clear 0.15 0 15 Brownsville (1) actual
10-15 Clear 0.18 1 17 Austin (1) actual
10-16 Hazy 0.27 1 11 Brownsville (1) actual
10-17 Clear 0.19 0 9 Abilene (0) actual
10-18 Hazy 0.30 0 10 Abilene (0) actual
10-19 Hazy 0.23 0 9 Abilene (0) actual
10-20 Clear 0.16 0 9 Abilene (0) actual
10-21 Clear 0.15 0 9 Lubbock (4) actual
10-22 Clear 0.14 0 8 Midland (3) actual
10-23 Clear 0.12 0 9 Lubbock (5) actual
10-24 Clear 0.09 0 11 Lubbock (1) actual
10-25 Clear 0.12 0 9 Lubbock (1) actual
10-26 Clear 0.13 0 12 Austin (1) actual
10-27 Clear 0.12 0 12 Abilene (1) actual
10-28 Clear 0.14 0 10 Wichita Falls (1) actual
10-29 Hazy 0.22 0 10 Abilene (0) actual
10-30 Smoke / haze aloft 0.43 1 10 Lubbock (15) actual
10-31 Smoke / haze aloft 0.39 1 9 Midland (15) 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).