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
Hazy
AOD 0.21 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-21 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-22 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.21 · 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 0.27 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-25 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.18 · dust 0
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 84 · dust 0
2026-09-20 (forecast)
2024-03 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
03-01 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 4 21 Midland (19) actual
03-02 Hazy 0.22 3 17 Midland (18) actual
03-03 Smoke / haze aloft 0.31 5 12 Midland (57) actual
03-04 Smoke / haze aloft 0.38 4 16 Midland (37) actual
03-05 Smoke / haze aloft 0.40 8 17 Midland (28) actual
03-06 Smoke / haze aloft 0.37 3 16 Midland (11) actual
03-07 Smoke / haze aloft 0.51 3 14 Midland (34) actual
03-08 Smoke / haze aloft 0.52 9 16 Midland (26) actual
03-09 Hazy 0.26 2 13 McAllen (5) actual
03-10 Clear 0.19 0 16 Brownsville (2) actual
03-11 Smoke / haze aloft 0.30 2 18 Abilene (3) actual
03-12 Hazy 0.29 2 11 Midland (15) actual
03-13 Hazy 0.24 4 9 Midland (32) actual
03-14 Smoke / haze aloft 0.49 4 14 Midland (22) actual
03-15 Smoke / haze aloft 0.69 0 13 Abilene (2) actual
03-16 Smoke / haze aloft 0.54 0 14 DFW (1) actual
03-17 Smoke / haze aloft 0.49 1 15 Abilene (1) actual
03-18 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 1 13 Corpus Christi (3) actual
03-19 Hazy 0.24 1 12 Corpus Christi (8) actual
03-20 Hazy 0.26 3 16 Lubbock (11) actual
03-21 Smoke / haze aloft 0.32 4 14 Midland (23) actual
03-22 Hazy 0.25 5 14 Corpus Christi (12) actual
03-23 Smoke / haze aloft 0.34 1 24 Austin (2) actual
03-24 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.34 10 19 Midland (110) actual
03-25 Desert dust 0.37 20 13 Midland (53) actual
03-26 Clear 0.20 13 12 Midland (48) actual
03-27 Hazy 0.24 7 14 Midland (28) actual
03-28 Clear 0.17 7 15 Midland (29) actual
03-29 Clear 0.20 5 10 Midland (37) actual
03-30 Hazy 0.23 2 10 Lubbock (11) actual
03-31 Smoke / haze aloft 0.33 2 12 Lubbock (16) 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).