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
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)
2024-12 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
12-01 Clear 0.14 1 17 Midland (3) actual
12-02 Clear 0.12 0 14 Corpus Christi (1) actual
12-03 Clear 0.17 0 14 Abilene (1) actual
12-04 Hazy 0.27 1 19 Lubbock (8) actual
12-05 Hazy 0.23 0 15 Abilene (0) actual
12-06 Smoke / haze aloft 0.31 0 11 Lubbock (1) actual
12-07 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 0 13 Abilene (1) actual
12-08 Hazy 0.29 4 14 Midland (67) actual
12-09 Clear 0.14 6 12 Midland (41) actual
12-10 Clear 0.18 2 13 DFW (5) actual
12-11 Clear 0.05 1 17 Midland (10) actual
12-12 Clear 0.14 0 15 Abilene (1) actual
12-13 Clear 0.19 0 9 Lubbock (7) actual
12-14 Clear 0.16 1 16 Lubbock (11) actual
12-15 Clear 0.19 0 13 Lubbock (2) actual
12-16 Hazy 0.22 0 14 Midland (4) actual
12-17 Hazy 0.22 0 16 Abilene (1) actual
12-18 Hazy 0.21 0 12 Abilene (0) actual
12-19 Clear 0.10 0 20 Midland (2) actual
12-20 Clear 0.09 0 21 Abilene (0) actual
12-21 Clear 0.11 0 9 Lubbock (4) actual
12-22 Clear 0.17 0 9 Lubbock (1) actual
12-23 Hazy 0.20 1 10 Lubbock (8) actual
12-24 Hazy 0.23 0 10 DFW (1) actual
12-25 Hazy 0.28 0 12 Austin (2) actual
12-26 Smoke / haze aloft 0.41 2 13 Midland (11) actual
12-27 Clear 0.17 5 17 Midland (42) actual
12-28 Smoke / haze aloft 0.36 5 17 Lubbock (25) actual
12-29 Clear 0.13 6 14 Midland (20) actual
12-30 Clear 0.06 5 12 Midland (37) actual
12-31 Clear 0.08 1 12 Midland (7) 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).