Officially called the Saharan Air Layer, the airborne mass of dust is about to overfly parts of the United States. Some experts believe this type of development can stop or seriously impede development of hurricanes – and the annual Hurricane Season is underway.
The main impacts of the Saharan dust are a whitening of the sky during daylight hours, redder sunsets, and decreased air quality.
The National Weather Service reports: The Florida Peninsula will also be heating up and drying out with decreasing thunderstorm activity, particularly Thursday onward, as the Bermuda High builds and shifts northward; record highs are possible both Thursday and Friday. Heat advisories have recently been hoisted for southwest Florida. This strengthening and shifting of the Bermuda High, climatological for late June/July, will allow the Saharan dust layer underneath of it which has overspread the Caribbean Sea and was approaching the southeastern Bahamas at sunset on Tuesday to progress into the Florida Peninsula and Gulf Coast in the coming days. The main impacts of the Saharan dust are a whitening of the sky during daylight hours, redder sunsets, and decreased air quality.