This paper presents first results of studying short-term variability of the aerosol optical depth of the atmosphere mainly for warm seasons over the city of Tomsk. The statistical characteristics of the optical depth are shown to be spectral-dependent, they smoothly decrease as the wavelength increases. The year-to-year variability of the atmospheric turbidity, during the postvolcanic relaxation of the atmosphere to the background state, is evaluated. Considered are also the data on the character of diurnal variability of the aerosol optical depth and the presence of synoptic and global oscillations. It was noticed that the influence of the city manifested itself in higher turbidity (by 28% on the average) and variability.