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 0.18 · 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
09-25 ·fcst
Clear
AOD — · dust —
int 0/3
Worst dust city today
Lubbock
Dust 2 µg/m³ · AOD 0.15 · Clear
2026-09-20 (forecast)
Worst US AQI city today
Houston
US AQI 72 · dust 0
2026-09-20 (forecast)
2025-11 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
11-01 Hazy 0.28 1 12 Abilene (1) actual
11-02 Clear 0.12 1 15 Corpus Christi (2) actual
11-03 Clear 0.08 1 17 Brownsville (2) actual
11-04 Clear 0.08 0 13 McAllen (1) actual
11-05 Clear 0.07 1 12 Lubbock (4) actual
11-06 Clear 0.08 1 12 Midland (13) actual
11-07 Clear 0.09 2 12 Midland (9) actual
11-08 Clear 0.10 1 13 Lubbock (3) actual
11-09 Clear 0.15 0 9 Austin (1) actual
11-10 Clear 0.05 0 8 Abilene (0) actual
11-11 Clear 0.06 0 11 Midland (3) actual
11-12 Clear 0.09 1 9 Midland (6) actual
11-13 Clear 0.09 0 8 Lubbock (3) actual
11-14 Clear 0.09 0 7 Midland (2) actual
11-15 Clear 0.07 0 7 Lubbock (1) actual
11-16 Clear 0.11 1 11 Midland (11) actual
11-17 Clear 0.19 2 11 Midland (14) actual
11-18 Hazy 0.22 2 13 Lubbock (11) actual
11-19 Smoke / haze aloft 0.44 0 15 Lubbock (2) actual
11-20 Smoke / haze aloft 0.49 1 12 Midland (19) actual
11-21 Hazy 0.23 3 15 Lubbock (11) actual
11-22 Hazy 0.20 1 15 Austin (2) actual
11-23 Hazy 0.29 0 12 Abilene (0) actual
11-24 Smoke / haze aloft 0.31 1 12 Midland (5) actual
11-25 Clear 0.13 1 14 Midland (9) actual
11-26 Clear 0.11 0 8 Midland (1) actual
11-27 Clear 0.14 0 11 Lubbock (2) actual
11-28 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 0 11 Abilene (1) actual
11-29 Smoke / haze aloft 0.30 1 12 Lubbock (4) actual
11-30 Hazy 0.26 0 11 Abilene (0) 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).