Overview
- A large plume of Saharan dust has moved across the Caribbean and is now over South and Central Florida, producing hazy skies and vivid sunrises while forecasts expect the plume to linger through the weekend into next week.
- National Weather Service offices have issued heat advisories for multiple counties as heat‑index values reach roughly 105–110°F and daytime highs climb into the 90s with warmer nights.
- The elevated, very dry Saharan Air Layer is displacing tropical moisture and reducing afternoon and evening rain chances to the single digits or low tens of percent in many local forecasts.
- Fine dust particles are expected to degrade air quality for people with asthma, heart disease or allergies, and health officials advise limiting prolonged outdoor exertion and checking local air‑quality alerts.
- Beyond local weather effects, transported dust supplies nutrients to distant ecosystems and can feed coastal algal blooms, and forecasters note model uncertainty with a possible late‑week moisture surge that could briefly raise weekend rain odds.