Overview
- The Saharan dust plume moved into South‑Central Texas on Monday and spread north into Central and North Texas with the heaviest concentrations along the Gulf Coast and Southeast Texas.
- Most communities will notice milky, hazy daytime skies and enhanced red and orange sunrises and sunsets caused by fine particles in an elevated Saharan Air Layer riding roughly 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the surface.
- Because the dust layer is warm and very dry it tends to suppress thunderstorm development and can temporarily reduce the odds of tropical storm formation in the tropical Atlantic.
- Health officials warn the plume contains very fine particles under 2.5 micrometers that can aggravate asthma, COPD and heart or lung disease and advise sensitive people to limit outdoor activity and have rescue inhalers ready.
- Forecasters say the plume should thin after June 30 as it mixes with Gulf moisture, and they are tracking an additional dust pulse likely to affect South Florida over the July 4 weekend; the events are a recurring June–July seasonal pattern that can also affect aviation and deliver nutrients to ecosystems.