Dallas, Texas Saharan dust forecast: Why the skies might be hazy

A bigger, more dense plume that is currently over the Caribbean arrives late Tuesday into Wednesday.

dallas — If you noticed hazy skies in North Texas this weekend and early next week, there's a reason why.

The Saharan dust returns starting Friday.

The dust is very typical this time of the year, as strong storms over the Saharan Desert haul dust into the atmosphere and that dust gets picked up by the trade winds. 

Those winds then carry dust across the Atlantic Ocean and sometimes it makes it all the way to Texas! That's a journey of 5,000-7,000 miles.

A couple of rounds are expected in the next week. A small, mild plume looks to arrive Friday before it thins out over the weekend. A bigger, more dense plume that is currently over the Caribbean arrives late Tuesday into Wednesday. 

Here's a look at the timecast for Wednesday:

The dust will likely cause hazy afternoon skies, colorful sunrises and sunsets and possibly lower air quality and allergy-like symptoms.

This won't be our first round of Saharan dust we've seen in North Texas summer. It caused some hazy skies early last week before clearing out. 

The dust won't look like a wall or dust or a haboob when it arrives. It'll actually look more like a haze on the horizon. If it's a heavy plume, you'll actually see it on cars and other surfaces. But more than likely you'll notice the hazy skies and the colorful sunrises and sunsets.

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