Sahara Desert dust cloud moving to US - affecting Florida, Texas, Louisiana, ... trends now
A massive Sahara Desert dust cloud is drifting 5,000 miles over the Atlantic towards the US - and experts have warned it could bring extreme heat while impacting air quality in five southeastern states.
Skies over Florida, along with southern swathes of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, will look 'a little hazy' and could turn brown from the sandy plume as it lingers over the weekend.
Along with haze, the desert dust will catalyze scorching temperatures of around 105 degrees in the Sunshine State and an uptick in allergies - but it will also bring brighter sunsets and suppress tropical thunderstorms, meteorologists have said.
Experts call the clouds the 'Saharan Air Layer' - defined as 'a mass of very dry, dusty air that forms over the Sahara Desert during the late spring, summer and early fall'.
When this air mass combines with strong jet streams - like the ones currently moving across the Atlantic and heading towards the south-east coast - the plumes can travel thousands of miles.
All of Florida is expected to be affected by the Sahara Air Layer, along with southern swathes of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama, forecasters have warned
A massive Sahara Desert dust cloud is drifting 5,000 miles over the Atlantic towards the US - and experts have warned it could bring extreme heat of 109 degrees to Florida
The dust is so dense it could be seen from space on Thursday, with NOAA's weather satellite spotting the first cloud over the eastern Caribbean Sea and the Lesser Antilles
AccuWeather is tracking 'several large clouds of dust' currently moving in from Africa's 3.6-million-square-mile blistering-hot desert - while warning that even bigger plumes are predicted to float over next week.
The immense clouds are forecast to cross the entire ocean before hitting Florida and the Caribbean on Saturday, along with parts of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi on Sunday.
'It may look a little hazy in
