My deepest sympathies to all the fellow asthmatic Texans. As thick, tropical-like humidity bears down on Central Texas, it’s come alongside an unwelcomed friend: a dense, hazy smog obscuring the skyline.
Why’s that? Central Texas meteorologists blame that glazed look on a one-two punch of both humidity haze courtesy of rainstorms, as well as the addition of agricultural smoke drifting into the region.
It’s a phenomenon experienced each spring in Texas, according to meteorologist Avery Tomasco with CBS Austin. When the winds are coming in strong from the south, that smoke travels all the way from Mexico, where farmers are clearing and burning their fields ahead of the next crop season. This year, it’s come during an especially toasty and rainy April, where humidity levels are already nearing stew-like thickness and mingling with the smoke to make even denser air coverage.
Or, as Tomasco aptly put it in a recent social media post: “That’s all mixing with the gym locker room/back sweat/nausea-inducing humidity for a nasty haze in the air.”
The duo has spurred Central Texas’ air quality index to land in the moderate range, where the resulting pollution might “pose a moderate health concern for a very small number of individuals,” including those with respiratory conditions or increased sensitivity to ozone and particle pollution.
There’s some expected reprieve coming down the pipeline courtesy of stormy weather followed by a cold front. Following a stormy end to Wednesday, April 29, Texans will get some relief in the form of a mild cold front coming in on Friday, May 1, which is expected to run through the weekend. Highs on Friday, Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3 are forecast as 68°, 70° and 76°, respectively, per the NWS.