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)
2025-04 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
04-01 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.48 6 25 Midland (37) actual
04-02 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.43 11 17 Lubbock (34) actual
04-03 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.50 6 14 Lubbock (18) actual
04-04 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.55 2 12 Lubbock (18) actual
04-05 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.55 5 13 Lubbock (59) actual
04-06 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.33 9 14 Lubbock (69) actual
04-07 Clear 0.17 5 15 Lubbock (11) actual
04-08 Clear 0.10 4 14 Midland (9) actual
04-09 Clear 0.10 3 8 Lubbock (13) actual
04-10 Clear 0.15 4 13 Lubbock (15) actual
04-11 Clear 0.15 5 15 Abilene (8) actual
04-12 Clear 0.13 3 8 Corpus Christi (7) actual
04-13 Clear 0.10 4 7 Lubbock (13) actual
04-14 Hazy 0.23 3 9 Lubbock (9) actual
04-15 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.36 4 12 Austin (4) actual
04-16 Hazy 0.29 2 13 Lubbock (6) actual
04-17 Hazy 0.27 2 8 Lubbock (11) actual
04-18 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.49 3 14 Midland (26) actual
04-19 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.72 3 13 Midland (20) actual
04-20 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.57 5 13 Lubbock (16) actual
04-21 Hazy 0.30 4 13 DFW (10) actual
04-22 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.42 1 14 Midland (4) actual
04-23 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.64 2 15 DFW (3) actual
04-24 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.57 2 14 Lubbock (4) actual
04-25 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.48 2 18 Lubbock (4) actual
04-26 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.52 2 18 Wichita Falls (4) actual
04-27 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.43 1 16 Austin (2) actual
04-28 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.47 2 12 Lubbock (12) actual
04-29 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.49 1 11 Midland (7) actual
04-30 Smoke (Mexico ag fires typical Apr-Jun) 0.55 3 12 Midland (19) 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).