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 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-20 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-21 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.19 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-22 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.17 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-23 ·fcst
Clear
AOD 0.18 · dust 0
int 0/3
09-24 ·fcst
Clear
AOD — · dust —
int 0/3
Worst dust city today
Lubbock
Dust 1 µg/m³ · AOD 0.14 · Clear
2026-09-19 (forecast)
Worst US AQI city today
Houston
US AQI 88 · dust 0
2026-09-19 (forecast)
2026-07 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
07-01 Hazy 0.21 10 15 Corpus Christi (26) actual
07-02 Hazy 0.25 8 18 San Antonio (13) actual
07-03 Hazy 0.24 6 18 Houston (9) actual
07-04 Clear 0.19 3 11 DFW (4) actual
07-05 Hazy 0.26 0 11 Abilene (2) actual
07-06 Hazy 0.25 1 13 Brownsville (5) actual
07-07 Hazy 0.27 1 15 Brownsville (6) actual
07-08 Hazy 0.21 10 16 San Antonio (33) actual
07-09 Clear 0.19 14 14 McAllen (50) actual
07-10 Hazy 0.23 16 15 Houston (23) actual
07-11 Hazy 0.28 12 17 Corpus Christi (27) actual
07-12 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.30 11 16 Corpus Christi (23) actual
07-13 Mixed (dust + haze) 0.37 18 18 McAllen (54) actual
07-14 Saharan dust 0.35 21 22 Brownsville (47) actual
07-15 Saharan dust 0.40 28 24 Houston (58) actual
07-16 Saharan dust 0.40 30 24 Houston (59) actual
07-17 Saharan dust 0.34 27 17 DFW (39) actual
07-18 Saharan dust 0.34 40 20 San Antonio (63) actual
07-19 Saharan dust 0.33 33 23 San Antonio (46) actual
07-20 Saharan dust 0.25 27 25 DFW (37) actual
07-21 Clear 0.17 15 22 Houston (24) actual
07-22 Hazy 0.26 7 22 Brownsville (11) actual
07-23 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.34 4 20 Brownsville (11) actual
07-24 Saharan dust 0.33 24 22 Brownsville (71) actual
07-25 Saharan dust 0.31 39 26 Austin (69) actual
07-26 Clear 0.19 9 19 DFW (23) actual
07-27 Clear 0.14 5 9 Brownsville (15) actual
07-28 Clear 0.17 8 12 Brownsville (22) actual
07-29 Hazy 0.25 6 13 Tyler (13) actual
07-30 Hazy 0.28 5 13 Lubbock (7) actual
07-31 Hazy 0.23 2 10 Houston (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).