PM2.5 is 14.4 µg/m³ here vs 24.5 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 14.4/22 × 0.5 = 0.3 here; 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 10.1 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Houston right now
PM2.5 is 19.3 µg/m³ here vs 24.5 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 19.3/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 here; 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 5.2 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Houston right now
~1 h 5 min drive/Texas/Some particle pollution/ PM2.5 19.7 µg/m³
PM2.5 is 19.7 µg/m³ here vs 24.5 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 19.7/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 here; 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 4.8 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Houston right now
PM2.5 is 20.4 µg/m³ here vs 24.5 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 20.4/22 × 0.5 = 0.5 here; 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 4.1 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Houston right now
PM2.5 is 20.7 µg/m³ here vs 24.5 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 20.7/22 × 0.5 = 0.5 here; 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 3.8 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Houston right now
PM2.5 is 20.8 µg/m³ here vs 24.5 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 20.8/22 × 0.5 = 0.5 here; 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 3.7 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Houston right now
Some particle pollutionLatest observation Jul 18, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Build-time readings shown
Air quality · Houston
Phew. Twelve hours out here is roughlyPM2.5 here is 24.5 µg/m³.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h outside ≈ 24.5/22 × 0.5 = 0.6 cigarettes.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
That is the fine-particle pollution you'd breathe standing outside all day inHouston right now, turned into a number your body already understands.
A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking: Berkeley Earth puts a full day at 22 µg/m³ of PM2.5 at about one cigarette.How we work this out
Why live rankings?
Smoke plumes are patchy and move with changing winds, terrain and weather. Nearby lakefront, coastal and higher-elevation places can be much clearer than Houston, but no direction is reliably cleaner. That is why this list is recalculated from live PM2.5 readings every hour instead of publishing a fixed escape route. If everything within three hours is smoky, the rankings will say so. Sometimes the honest answer is to stay inside with a filter running.