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)
2025-03 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
03-01 Clear 0.14 1 21 Lubbock (4) actual
03-02 Hazy 0.29 5 15 Midland (45) actual
03-03 Smoke / haze aloft 0.35 7 11 Midland (49) actual
03-04 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.44 11 10 Midland (40) actual
03-05 Clear 0.14 5 12 Corpus Christi (20) actual
03-06 Hazy 0.20 6 15 McAllen (21) actual
03-07 Hazy 0.28 10 22 Lubbock (20) actual
03-08 Smoke / haze aloft 0.51 6 28 McAllen (17) actual
03-09 Hazy 0.29 2 12 Lubbock (6) actual
03-10 Clear 0.08 2 17 Midland (5) actual
03-11 Clear 0.10 2 9 Midland (15) actual
03-12 Clear 0.16 4 10 Midland (23) actual
03-13 Clear 0.16 15 14 San Antonio (40) actual
03-14 Hazy 0.22 10 15 Midland (71) actual
03-15 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.35 15 13 Brownsville (25) actual
03-16 Clear 0.17 13 11 McAllen (27) actual
03-17 Clear 0.10 5 10 McAllen (13) actual
03-18 Clear 0.15 7 5 Midland (63) actual
03-19 Clear 0.19 6 7 Midland (31) actual
03-20 Clear 0.14 3 11 Brownsville (6) actual
03-21 Clear 0.14 2 9 Lubbock (5) actual
03-22 Clear 0.20 3 11 Midland (19) actual
03-23 Smoke / haze aloft 0.39 4 15 Midland (11) actual
03-24 Smoke / haze aloft 0.34 3 15 Abilene (4) actual
03-25 Clear 0.20 2 17 Lubbock (5) actual
03-26 Smoke / haze aloft 0.47 2 12 Austin (4) actual
03-27 Smoke / haze aloft 0.44 1 11 Abilene (2) actual
03-28 Smoke / haze aloft 0.36 1 10 Midland (6) actual
03-29 Hazy 0.26 3 12 Midland (34) actual
03-30 Smoke / haze aloft 0.46 6 18 Midland (34) actual
03-31 Smoke / haze aloft 0.53 5 25 Midland (24) 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).