Today's Texas Air Quality Forecast

Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated lingering background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range on the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso and Houston areas, and the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Residual smoke emanating from wildfires in the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, light residual smoke may be transported southward, affecting a large portion of the Eastern half of the state with moisture transport out of the Gulf keeping relative humidity elevated. Additionally, The Monroe Canyon fire in Central Utah and the Dragon Bravo fire in Grand Canyon National Park continued to produce light-to-heavy density smoke plumes that have drifted east and will likely affect portions of the Northern Panhandle. Meanwhile, burnings across Northern Mexico are producing light to moderate density smoke, and will advect into portions of far West Texas, Permian Basin, and South Plains. Light to moderate winds in the eastern half of Texas will also contribute toward urban particulate matter in the more populated areas. Overall, the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas and the upper end of the "Good" range for the majority of the Amarillo, Austin, Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Victoria areas.

Persistent light daytime winds, light urban particulate matter, and possibly light density residual smoke may be enough to keep the daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs at the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.

Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated lingering background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, and Houston areas and the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

The leading edge of a light Saharan dust plume is forecast to breach deep South Texas Friday morning and is expected to primarily affect the South and possibly South Central regions as it gradually disperses after moving inland. Meanwhile, depending on the density of the lingering residual smoke from the fires in Arizona, Utah, and northwestern/central Canada, the aerosols are anticipated to affect a large portion of the state (except for deep South Texas, with the highest density expected to be in North Central and Northeast Texas as well as the Northern Panhandle. Relative humidity will be slightly elevated, but the richest moisture will be mostly limited to the Southern and coastal areas. Overall, the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth and Tyler-Longview areas the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Houston, and Waco-Killeen areas, and the upper end of the "Good" range in a majority of the Austin, Big Bend, Bryan-College Station, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Victoria areas.

Very light winds, lingering urban particulate matter, and light residual smoke may be enough to keep the daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs at the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.

Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated lingering background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso areas and the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

The plume of light Saharan dust is forecast to linger over deep South and Southwest Texas on Saturday however the highest density will be limited to the deep South region as it continues to disperse. Meanwhile, depending on the density of the lingering residual smoke from the fires in Arizona, Utah, and northwestern/central Canada, elevated fine particulate matter could affect most of Texas, however most of it will remain aloft as surface smoke is constrained to North Central, Northeast, and East Texas. Relative humidity could remain slightly elevated in the eastern half of the state, but the most significant values will be mostly limited to deep South and Southeast Texas. Overall, the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in a majority of the Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Victoria areas.

Very light winds, limited vertical mixing, and light residual smoke may be enough to keep the daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs at the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.

Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated lingering background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth and El Paso areas and the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Houston, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Depending on the burnings across the western third of the country and the ongoing wildfires in northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, light to moderate residual smoke could remain over most of the state. A majority of it appears like it will remain aloft, however, possible scattered burnings in Central and Eastern Texas could produce additional plumes of smoke and aerosols in the aforementioned regions. Slightly elevated relative humidity is expected to persist in the eastern half of the state and could facilitate fine particulate formation. Overall, the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in a majority of the Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Victoria areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area as well.