First smoke from Canadian wildfires flowed into the northeast U.S. Now dust from the Sahara Desert will be blanketing the southern part of the country.
Naples Daily News reported that the dust from Africa will be making its way across the Atlantic.
The cloud was first spotted in the eastern Caribbean Sea on Thursday, Forbes reported.
Florida is expected to see it this weekend and it may affect air quality, according to the Daily News. But Forbes predicts it won’t be as bad as the 2020 “Godzilla” clouds that were produced then.
A second, bigger and denser cloud has formed and is being blown off the African coast, expected to be in Florida next week.
The National Hurricane Center is predicting that it could not only hit Florida but the Gulf Coast for the next week.
The clouds of dust form in the late spring, summer and early fall, and come from Africa to the Western Hemisphere repeating every three to five days every year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Saharan Air Layer fills about 2 to 2.5 miles of the atmosphere about a mile above the surface of the Earth, according to NOAA. But the actual size will differ, WSFA reported. It may prevent storms, allowing temperatures to climb. It also prevents hurricanes from forming, Forbes reported.
NOAA suggests that people with asthma and other chronic lung conditions reduce exposure to dust during storms.
