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)
2024-08 day-by-day
Date Event AOD Dust PM2.5 Worst city Kind
08-01 Saharan dust 0.23 58 28 Corpus Christi (81) actual
08-02 Hazy 0.26 13 23 DFW (32) actual
08-03 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.32 9 25 Brownsville (33) actual
08-04 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.32 7 21 Brownsville (37) actual
08-05 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.32 4 22 McAllen (17) actual
08-06 Hazy 0.25 1 19 Brownsville (3) actual
08-07 Hazy 0.25 1 20 Abilene (3) actual
08-08 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.32 2 22 Brownsville (6) actual
08-09 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.52 2 23 McAllen (8) actual
08-10 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.54 2 23 Midland (7) actual
08-11 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.34 2 16 Austin (3) actual
08-12 Hazy 0.23 2 15 McAllen (7) actual
08-13 Hazy 0.22 5 17 Brownsville (13) actual
08-14 Hazy 0.20 6 14 Brownsville (14) actual
08-15 Hazy 0.22 8 17 McAllen (19) actual
08-16 Clear 0.19 6 16 Corpus Christi (13) actual
08-17 Clear 0.16 3 17 Corpus Christi (7) actual
08-18 Clear 0.17 1 16 Lubbock (2) actual
08-19 Clear 0.19 1 17 Abilene (2) actual
08-20 Hazy 0.20 1 18 McAllen (3) actual
08-21 Hazy 0.22 1 15 Midland (3) actual
08-22 Hazy 0.27 1 18 Lubbock (3) actual
08-23 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.33 1 15 Abilene (2) actual
08-24 Hazy 0.28 2 14 Brownsville (7) actual
08-25 Hazy 0.29 1 14 Brownsville (5) actual
08-26 Hazy 0.26 1 12 Houston (2) actual
08-27 Hazy 0.20 2 11 Wichita Falls (6) actual
08-28 Hazy 0.25 1 13 Abilene (2) actual
08-29 Hazy 0.25 1 12 Tyler (2) actual
08-30 Hazy 0.27 0 12 Abilene (1) actual
08-31 Smoke (Canadian wildfire typical Jul-Sep) 0.30 0 12 Lubbock (5) 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).