Today's Texas Air Quality Forecast

Light to moderate winds, warm temperatures, sufficient afternoon sunshine, and/or slightly elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, and San Antonio areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Houston, Laredo, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Light to moderate morning winds, elevated relative humidity levels, and hazy conditions over the eastern two-thirds of the state are keeping fine particulate matter elevated, especially over the more populated areas. Smoke from fire activity across southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Central America, remnant smoke from previous day's activities from the same areas, and aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities contributed to a large plume that has extended through the eastern two thirds of Texas. Additionally, a few small, scattered burning activities across parts of East and Southeast Texas may continue producing very light density residual smoke over these regions as well, but with minimal effects. Meanwhile, local industrial activity combined with pollutant convergence near a dryline in the Permian Basin could keep fine particulate matter elevated across the region. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas, and in the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Bryan-College Station, Midland-Odessa, Tyler-Longview, and Victoria areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate") in parts of the Austin, Brownsville-McAllen, Houston, and San Antonio areas as well.

Urban fine particulate matter has remained slightly elevated in far West Texas with gusty afternoon and evening winds possibly resulting in occasional areas of patchy blowing dust, with the overall daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs possibly reaching the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the region, which includes the El Paso area.

Warm temperatures, sufficient afternoon sunshine, and/or slightly elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, and San Antonio areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Light morning winds and elevated relative humidity levels over the eastern two-thirds of the state are forecast to continue to elevate fine particulate matter, especially over the more populated areas. A combination of light density residual smoke attributed to burning, gas flaring, and industrial activities across portions of southern and central Mexico as well as the Bay of Campeche and small, scattered burning activities across parts of East, Southeast, and North Central Texas may continue to linger over the eastern two-thirds of the state. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas, and in the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Bryan-College Station, Tyler-Longview, and Victoria areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate") in parts of the Austin, Brownsville-McAllen, Houston, and San Antonio areas as well.

Slightly elevated urban fine particulate levels associated with light morning winds and limited morning vertical mixing across far West Texas could be enough to raise the daily PM2.5 and PM10 AQIs to the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the region, which includes the El Paso area.

Warm temperatures, light winds, sufficient afternoon sunshine, and/or slightly elevated lingering background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Houston, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, and San Antonio areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Big Bend, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Laredo areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

A cold front will move into North Central Texas Wednesday morning as southerly winds south of front continue to pump copious amounts of moisture into the eastern two thirds of Texas. Depending on the burning, gas flaring, and industrial activities across portions of southern and central Mexico as well as the Bay of Campeche, light density smoke and aerosols could affect portions of South and South Texas as well as the Coastal Plains of Texas. Light to moderate winds could increase the effects of urban fine particulate matter in more populated areas but increased vertical mixing and scattered precipitation associated with the boundary could limit the effects. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, and Laredo areas and the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate") in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen and Houston areas as well.

Light to moderate winds could slightly elevate urban fine particulate matter in far West Texas, keeping the daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs in the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.

Moderate winds, widespread cloud cover, scattered precipitation, and/or lower incoming background levels should be enough for ozone to stay in the "Good" range for most areas statewide.

The aforementioned cold front will reach deep South Texas Thursday morning, but elevated relative humidity is forecast to persist in Central and South Texas as well as the southern Permian Basin. Light density smoke and aerosols associated with the burning, gas flaring, and industrial activity in central and southern Mexico could remain in portions of deep South Texas and the coastal bend, sustaining elevated fine particulate matter as high relative humidity and a stalled boundary promote pollutant convergence. Urban fine particulate matter could remain slightly elevated in the more populated areas north of the boundary but increase vertical mixing and gradually increasing precipitation could preclude higher concentrations. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, and Laredo areas, the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Houston, San Antonio, and Victoria areas, and the upper end of the "Good" range in a majority of the Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Urban fine particulate matter could remain slightly elevated in far West Texas but increased vertical mixing and a chance for precipitation could drop the daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs into the upper end of the "Good" range in a majority of the El Paso area.