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
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-22 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-23 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.24 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-24 ·fcst
Hazy
AOD 0.25 · dust 0
int 1/3
09-25 ·fcst
Clear
AOD — · dust —
int 0/3
Worst dust city today
Lubbock
Dust 2 µg/m³ · AOD 0.15 · Clear
2026-09-20 (forecast)
Worst US AQI city today
Houston
US AQI 72 · dust 0
2026-09-20 (forecast)
2025-07 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
07-01 Saharan dust 0.41 36 24 Houston (70) actual
07-02 Saharan dust 0.38 32 20 Houston (69) actual
07-03 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.35 11 14 Tyler (42) actual
07-04 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.32 19 17 Corpus Christi (43) actual
07-05 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.32 13 17 Houston (23) actual
07-06 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.34 15 22 Houston (28) actual
07-07 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.33 8 16 Tyler (17) actual
07-08 Hazy 0.28 3 12 Austin (5) actual
07-09 Hazy 0.25 15 13 Corpus Christi (55) actual
07-10 Saharan dust 0.27 33 18 Houston (64) actual
07-11 Hazy 0.26 17 14 Houston (36) actual
07-12 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.35 3 10 Lubbock (5) actual
07-13 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.33 2 11 Abilene (4) actual
07-14 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.30 4 12 Brownsville (10) actual
07-15 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.32 15 15 Corpus Christi (39) actual
07-16 Saharan dust 0.32 37 19 McAllen (78) actual
07-17 Saharan dust 0.24 41 18 Tyler (79) actual
07-18 Hazy 0.21 15 15 DFW (36) actual
07-19 Clear 0.19 5 10 Corpus Christi (9) actual
07-20 Hazy 0.21 11 10 McAllen (42) actual
07-21 Hazy 0.23 18 13 Tyler (36) actual
07-22 Hazy 0.22 7 10 DFW (16) actual
07-23 Clear 0.19 1 9 Abilene (7) actual
07-24 Clear 0.13 0 9 Lubbock (4) actual
07-25 Hazy 0.28 1 11 Lubbock (7) actual
07-26 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.32 3 12 McAllen (11) actual
07-27 Hazy 0.26 9 11 Brownsville (13) actual
07-28 Hazy 0.22 15 14 Brownsville (44) actual
07-29 Clear 0.15 18 17 Austin (31) actual
07-30 Clear 0.18 7 15 Corpus Christi (12) actual
07-31 Hazy 0.26 2 14 Lubbock (4) 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).