Today's Texas Air Quality Forecast

Warm temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or slightly elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo, Big Bend, El Paso, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas.

Light morning winds combined with elevated relative humidity levels and possible patchy morning fog over the eastern two-thirds of the state are slightly elevating fine particulate matter, especially over the more populated areas. Additionally, model guidance indicates that the majority of the patchy residual smoke associated with the wildfires and burning activities across the Southeastern U.S. will be steered northward and out of Texas from southerly winds. Meanwhile, the burning, gas flaring, and industrial activities across portions of southern and central Mexico as well as the Bay of Campeche will continue producing light density residual smoke that should continue lingering and filtering over deep South Texas and portions of the Coastal Plains, the lower Rio Grande Valley, and possibly Southeast as well as South Central Texas. Small, scattered burning activities across parts of East, Southeast, and North Central Texas may begin and produce very light density residual smoke, however these aerosols are not expected to contribute much to raising fine particulate matter over these regions. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas and should remain in the "Good" range for the majority of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Tyler-Longview areas.

Slightly elevated afternoon and evening winds across portions of far West Texas, the Texas Panhandle, and the Permian Basin, associated with the development of a dryline frontal boundary, could generate and transport patchy blowing dust into and through parts of the regions. The intensity and duration of the possible blowing dust may be enough to raise the daily PM2.5 AQI to the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area and to the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo and Midland-Odessa areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area as well.

Newer model guidance suggests that light 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, Big Bend, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, and San Antonio areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Austin area.

Light morning winds and elevated relative humidity levels over the eastern two-thirds of the state are expected to continue to elevate fine particulate matter, especially over the more populated areas as the aforementioned dryline persists and a cold front is forecast to move over the Texas Panhandle and along the Oklahoma/Texas border. The burning, gas flaring, and industrial activities across portions of southern and central Mexico as well as the Bay of Campeche are expected to continue producing light density residual smoke that should linger and filter over deep South Texas, the Coastal Plains, the lower Rio Grande Valley, and Southeast as well as South Central Texas. Additionally, small, scattered burning activities across parts of East, Southeast, and North Central Texas may continue producing very light density residual smoke, however the density and coverage of these aerosols are not expected to contribute much towards raising fine particulate matter over these regions. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Slightly elevated urban fine particulate levels associated with light morning winds, limited morning vertical mixing, and possibly light lingering suspended dust from the previous day could be enough to raise the daily PM2.5 and PM10 AQIs to the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.

Light 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 Austin, El Paso, Laredo, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo, Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Lubbock areas.

Light morning winds and elevated relative humidity levels over the eastern two-thirds of the state are expected to continue to elevate fine particulate matter, especially over the more populated areas as the aforementioned dryline slightly shifts eastward over Texas. Depending on the burning, gas flaring, and industrial activities across portions of southern and central Mexico as well as the Bay of Campeche continue, light density residual smoke may persist over deep South Texas, the Coastal Plains, the lower Rio Grande Valley, and Southeast as well as South Central Texas. Additionally, small, scattered burning activities across parts of East, Southeast, and North Central Texas may continue producing very light density residual smoke and the density and coverage of these aerosols may slightly contribute towards raising fine particulate matter over these regions. Overall, the daily PM2.5 AQI could reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Slightly gusty afternoon and evening winds across portions of far West Texas could generate and transport light density patchy blowing dust into and through parts of the region. The intensity and duration of the possible blowing dust may be enough to raise the daily PM2.5/PM10 AQIs to the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the region, which include the El Paso area.

Light 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 Laredo area and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Big Bend, Brownsville-McAllen, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Light morning winds and elevated relative humidity levels over the eastern two-thirds of the state are expected to continue to elevate fine particulate matter, especially over the more populated areas. Depending on the amount of burning, gas flaring, and industrial activities across portions of southern and central Mexico as well as the Bay of Campeche continue, light density residual smoke may linger over deep South Texas, the Coastal Plains, the lower Rio Grande Valley, and Southeast as well as South Central Texas. Additionally, small, scattered burning activities across parts of East, Southeast, and North Central Texas may continue producing very light density residual smoke over these regions as well. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI could reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, 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.

Strong daytime winds across far West Texas, the Texas Panhandle, South Plains, the Big Bend region, the Permian Basin, as we as the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua and eastern New Mexico are expected to generate and transport blowing dust into and through portions of these regions. While PM2.5/PM10 levels may spike at times to the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Texas Panhandle, Big Bend region, and South Plains and to the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or higher across parts of far West Texas and the Permian Basin, the density and duration of the suspended dust could be enough to raise the overall daily PM10 AQI to the lower end of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range in parts of the El Paso area and to the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo area. The daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area; the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Midland-Odessa area; the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Lubbock area; and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo and Big Bend areas.