Today's Texas Air Quality Forecast

Forecast Discussion

Light to moderate winds, hot 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 north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in parts of the El Paso area; and the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Patchy and slightly weakening African dust will spread to cover much of the state (with the exception of far West Texas and the northern Panhandle) at varying intensities, with the heaviest dust remaining along and east of a line from Del Rio to Temple to Jasper. Additionally, light amounts of patchy residual smoke associated with isolated fires and lingering continental haze may slightly increase fine particulate background levels in parts of East and Southeast Texas as well. Overall, depending on the intensity and coverage of the dust (combined with the patchy light smoke in East/Southeast Texas), the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Houston, and Victoria areas; the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Laredo, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas; possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Big Bend, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Tyler-Longview areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Lubbock area.

Light to moderate winds, hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" in parts of the El Paso area; the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area; and the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Midland-Odessa area, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Patchy lingering African dust will persist over much of the state (with the exception of far West Texas) while continuing to gradually weaken. Additionally, light amounts of patchy residual smoke associated with isolated fires and lingering continental haze may slightly increase fine particulate background levels in parts of East Texas as well. Overall, depending on the intensity and coverage of the lingering dust (combined with the patchy light smoke in East Texas), the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, San Antonio, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas; possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Big Bend, Dallas-Fort Worth, Midland-Odessa, and Tyler-Longview areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Amarillo area.

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

Light to moderate winds, hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" in parts of the El Paso area and the lower to middle end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth and Midland-Odessa areas, with the highest concentrations in the afternoon and early evening.

Very light amounts of patchy weakening African dust will continue to linger mainly in the Texas Panhandle while dissipating elsewhere. Additionally, very light amounts of patchy residual smoke associated with isolated fires and lingering continental haze may slightly increase fine particulate background levels in parts of East Texas as well. However, the intensity of the lingering dust and smoke is not expected to be enough to raise the daily PM2.5 AQI beyond the upper end of the "Good" range across most of the primary impacted areas, including the Amarillo, Lubbock, Beaumont-Port Arthur, and Tyler-Longview areas.

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

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

Should the light burning activity in the ArkLaTex region continue, very light amounts of patchy residual smoke associated with the isolated fires may slightly increase fine particulate background levels in parts of East and Southeast Texas. Additionally, very light amounts of patchy smoke from agricultural and industrial burning in Mexico and Central America could begin to filter into deep South Texas as well. Overall, depending on the intensity and coverage of the light patchy smoke, the daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach possibly the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Tyler-Longview area and the upper end of the "Good" range (perhaps with an isolated low "Moderate" or two) in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, and Houston area.

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

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This forecast was last updated at 9:40 AM on Wednesday, August 21st, 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.