Today's Texas Air Quality Forecast

Forecast Discussion

Wednesday 04/24/2019
Light winds, warm temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range or possibly higher on the west side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area; the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area; the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo and Lubbock areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Waco-Killeen area, with highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Patchy smoke from agricultural burning in Mexico and Central America will persist over southern portions of the state generally along and south of a line from Presidio to San Angelo to Galveston, though widespread heavy precipitation (especially in Central Texas) could help locally reduce fine particulate concentrations at times. Overall, depending on the intensity of the smoke and the coverage and intensity of rainfall, the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area; the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Corpus Christi and Laredo areas; possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the San Antonio and Victoria areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Austin, Big Bend, Houston, Midland-Odessa, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Otherwise and elsewhere in the state, moderate to strong winds, cool temperatures, heavy cloud cover with precipitation, and/or lower incoming background levels should help keep air quality in the "Good" range in most spots.

Thursday 04/25/2019
Light winds, warm temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range or possibly higher on the south and southeast side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, on the east and southeast side of the Houston area, and in parts of the El Paso area; the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas; possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the San Antonio, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Austin and Beaumont-Port Arthur areas, with highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Light amounts of patchy smoke from agricultural burning in Mexico and Central America will begin retreating eastward and southward as a cold front pushes the smoke out of the state, with fine particulate levels rapidly diminishing in the wake of the front. However, the smoke could linger long enough over portions of South Texas for the overall daily PM2.5 AQI to remain at the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Corpus Christi area, with highest concentrations occurring in the first half of the day.

Otherwise and elsewhere in the state, moderate winds and/or lower incoming background levels should help keep air quality in the "Good" range in most spots.

Friday 04/26/2019 Outlook
Light winds, hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" on the south side of the Houston area; the upper end of the "Moderate" range or possibly higher on the west and southwest side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, on the southwest side of the San Antonio area, and in parts of the Waco-Killeen area; the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen and Lubbock areas; the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Midland-Odessa, and Tyler-Longview areas; and possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Big Bend and Victoria areas, with highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Elsewhere in Southwest Texas, moderate winds and/or lower incoming background levels should help keep air quality in the "Good" range in most spots.

Saturday 04/27/2019 Outlook
Light to moderate winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" in parts of the Houston area; the upper end of the "Moderate" range or possibly higher in parts of the San Antonio area; the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur area; the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, and Waco-Killeen areas; and possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo and Tyler-Longview areas, with highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Elsewhere in Southwest Texas and the Coastal Bend region, moderate winds and/or lower incoming background levels should help keep air quality in the "Good" range in most spots.

Sign up for e-mail updates

This forecast was last updated at 10:45 AM on Wednesday, April 24th, and is updated daily on normal TCEQ work days and may also be updated on weekends or holidays when air pollution levels are high. Regardless of our forecast, we always recommend that each individual determine what level of activity they should conduct based on the actual local conditions. See the "Related Current Data" links above to monitor the latest actual conditions.