AUSTIN, Texas — Another plume of Saharan dust is on its way to Central Texas. This round of dust is expected to arrive as early as Friday, and will likely remain in place through the weekend.
An earlier round of Saharan dust brought hazy conditions and reduced air quality last weekend and early this week. This next round for the upcoming weekend will likely be similar with more hazy conditions and air quality reduced to the "moderate" category.
This dust plume is currently drifting over the Caribbean and can be seen as the brown, murky hue on visible satellite imagery below:
So plan on reduced air quality starting on Friday, and continuing through Sunday as the dust rolls in.
The last round of dust briefly dropped the air quality in Austin to the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category last weekend. The current air quality forecast calls for "moderate" air quality Friday through Sunday.
It's not a bad idea to keep tabs on these levels through the weekend if you're especially sensitive to dust or have any respiratory issues.
Aside from the reduced air quality, the dust will also bring more hazy conditions. This can mean very vivid sunrises and sunsets, so be on the lookout for that this weekend.
Dust concentrations are expected to remain elevated through Sunday, but will likely come back down by the start of next week. However, it's possible that another batch of dust could try to push into Central Texas late next week or next weekend.
As long-time Central Texans know, it is not uncommon for Saharan dust to make the roughly 5,000-mile journey from the African continent to the Gulf Coast. This usually happens several times per year and actually has some pros and cons.
We're familiar with the reduced air quality and hazy conditions, but this dust is also known to provide beneficial nutrients for the soil.
The dry air associated with the Saharan air layer is also known to suppress tropical development. This is the case currently across the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf with no meaningful chance of tropical development in the near future. Of course, this is only temporary. The hurricane season remains young and will continue through the end of November.
The KVUE Storm Team will continue to closely monitor the dust and our local forecast.
Other forecast details and the extended forecast can be found below:
