Today's Texas Air Quality Forecast

Light winds, warm temperatures, sufficient 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 sides of the Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio areas; the middle to upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Brownsville-McAllen, Big Bend, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas; the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Bryan-College Station, Laredo, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, and Victoria areas.

As a cold front approaches the coastal bend of Texas, residual smoke over South Central Texas, Southeast Texas, and the lower Rio Grande Valley from widespread seasonal fire activities throughout central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and northern South America will begin to weaken and disperse while remaining slightly elevated for areas along the lower Texas coastline and over deep South Texas. Meanwhile, slightly elevated relative humidity levels and urban fine particulate background aerosols, associated with light winds and continental haze, are forecast to contribute towards elevating PM2.5 concentrations. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the lower end of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, particularly over South Padre Island; the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Houston, Laredo, and Victoria areas; the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area as well.

Light morning winds and lower morning vertical mixing heights across portions of far West Texas and the Big Bend region could result in the daily PM2.5 AQI reaching the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Big Bend and El Paso areas.

Ozone Action Days will be in effect on Saturday for the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio areas. Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the middle of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range on the south side of the Houston area; the lower end of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range on the south side of the Austin area, on the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area; on the west side of the El Paso area, on the northwest side of the San Antonio area, and in parts of the Midland-Odessa and Waco-Killeen areas; the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Big Bend, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Laredo, Lubbock, and Tyler-Longview areas; and the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Victoria areas.

As a high-pressure system develops over the state, following the passage of the aforementioned cold frontal boundary, the light to moderate density residual smoke from the widespread seasonal fire activities throughout central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and northern South America may continue to linger primarily over deep South Texas with lighter amounts over the lower coastal bend of Texas as well as the lower Rio Grande Valley. Meanwhile, a combination of elevated relative humidity levels and urban fine particulate background aerosols, associated with light winds and continental haze, are forecast to continue contributing towards elevating PM2.5 concentrations, mainly for the eastern two-thirds of the state. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, particularly over South Padre Island; the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, and Victoria areas; and the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area as well.

Slightly elevated fine particulate background levels over portions of far West Texas and the Big Bend region associated with light winds and lower morning vertical mixing heights could raise the daily PM2.5 AQI to the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Big Bend and El Paso areas.

Ozone Action Days will be in effect on Sunday for the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Tyler-Longview areas. Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, abundant afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the lower end of the "Unhealthy" range on the east to northeast sides of the Houston area; the lower to middle of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range on the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area; the lower end of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range on the north sides of the Beaumont-Port Arthur and Tyler-Longview areas as well as in parts of the Big Bend, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas; the upper end of the "Moderate" range (or possibly higher) in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Bryan-College Station, El Paso, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas; the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, and Laredo areas; and the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Victoria area.

The aforementioned high-pressure system will continue to dominate the weather for the majority of the state. The combination of elevated relative humidity levels and urban fine particulate background aerosols, associated with light winds and continental haze, are forecast to continue contributing towards elevating PM2.5 concentrations, mainly for the eastern two-thirds of the state. Additionally, depending on the amount of lingering light to moderate density residual smoke from the widespread seasonal fire activities throughout central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and northern South America, these fine particulates may assist is raising PM2.5 concentrations across portions of deep South Texas, Southeast Texas, and along the coastal bend of Texas. Overall, the daily PM2.5 AQI may reach the lower end of the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, particularly over South Padre Island; the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas; the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Lubbock and Midland-Odessa areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range for the majority of the Amarillo area. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area as well.

Slightly elevated fine particulate background levels over portions of far West Texas and the Big Bend region associated with light winds and limited morning vertical mixing could be enough to maintain the daily PM2.5 AQI at the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Big Bend and El Paso areas.

Light winds, warm to hot temperatures, sufficient afternoon sunshine, and/or elevated incoming background levels could be enough for ozone to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Tyler-Longview areas; the middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Amarillo, Austin, Big Bend, Bryan-College Station, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, San Antonio, and Waco-Killeen areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Victoria areas.

Depending on the amount of seasonal burning activities throughout central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and northern South America, and the residual smoke associated from these, fine particulate matter may continue to linger over portions of deep South Texas along the lower coastal bend of Texas and filter over portions of Southeast Texas, South Central Texas, and the lower Rio Grande Valley. Meanwhile, a combination of elevated relative humidity levels and light urban fine particulate background aerosols, associated with light winds and continental haze, may continue to contribute towards elevating PM2.5 concentrations. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, particularly over South Padre Island; the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Corpus Christi, Laredo, San Antonio, and Victoria areas; the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range for the majority of the Big Bend region as well as the Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area as well.

Light morning winds and an overnight temperature inversion, limiting morning atmospheric mixing, followed by gusty afternoon conditions across portions of far West Texas may be enough to raise the overall daily PM2.5 AQI to the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.

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

Depending on the amount of residual smoke from the possibly ongoing seasonal burning activities throughout central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and northern South America, fine particulate matter may continue to linger over deep South Texas, along the lower coastal bend of Texas, as well as portions of Southeast Texas, South Central Texas, and the lower Rio Grande Valley. Meanwhile, a combination of elevated relative humidity levels and light urban fine particulate background aerosols, associated with light winds and continental haze, may continue to contribute towards elevating PM2.5 concentrations. The overall daily PM2.5 AQI is forecast to reach the upper end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area, particularly over South Padre Island; the lower to middle of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Austin, Corpus Christi, Laredo, San Antonio, and Victoria areas; the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Tyler-Longview, and Waco-Killeen areas; and the upper end of the "Good" range for the majority of the Big Bend region as well as the Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa areas. The daily PM10 AQI could reach the upper end of the "Good" range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen area as well.

Light morning winds and an overnight temperature inversion, limiting morning atmospheric mixing, followed by gusty afternoon conditions across portions of far West Texas may be enough to raise the overall daily PM2.5 AQI to the lower end of the "Moderate" range in parts of the El Paso area.