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)
2024-07 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
07-01 Saharan dust 0.24 32 23 Corpus Christi (92) actual
07-02 Saharan dust 0.24 49 28 Corpus Christi (88) actual
07-03 Hazy 0.22 18 22 Corpus Christi (38) actual
07-04 Clear 0.18 13 15 Corpus Christi (59) actual
07-05 Hazy 0.21 19 16 Corpus Christi (46) actual
07-06 Hazy 0.27 15 16 Corpus Christi (55) actual
07-07 Saharan dust 0.29 20 18 McAllen (66) actual
07-08 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.34 9 21 Abilene (17) actual
07-09 Hazy 0.26 6 19 Corpus Christi (17) actual
07-10 Hazy 0.25 4 16 Brownsville (18) actual
07-11 Hazy 0.30 9 20 McAllen (50) actual
07-12 Saharan dust 0.33 25 23 Houston (60) actual
07-13 Saharan dust 0.35 37 25 Brownsville (118) actual
07-14 Saharan dust 0.33 39 24 San Antonio (66) actual
07-15 Saharan dust 0.25 20 21 Corpus Christi (48) actual
07-16 Hazy 0.20 18 20 Corpus Christi (49) actual
07-17 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.30 8 21 San Antonio (17) actual
07-18 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.34 5 24 McAllen (21) actual
07-19 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.47 11 25 Brownsville (90) actual
07-20 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.49 4 21 McAllen (31) actual
07-21 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.41 4 19 Brownsville (16) actual
07-22 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.52 14 23 McAllen (35) actual
07-23 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.42 14 21 San Antonio (39) actual
07-24 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.41 6 19 Corpus Christi (12) actual
07-25 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.47 19 23 Corpus Christi (67) actual
07-26 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.47 19 20 Corpus Christi (74) actual
07-27 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.40 6 15 McAllen (16) actual
07-28 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.33 4 13 Brownsville (22) actual
07-29 Hazy 0.27 16 15 Corpus Christi (34) actual
07-30 Saharan dust 0.31 29 25 Corpus Christi (95) actual
07-31 Saharan dust 0.33 55 30 Corpus Christi (94) 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).