Saharan dust forecast to spread to coastal Texas by Saturday

June 27 (UPI) — Dust from the Sahara Desert may make its way to Texas this weekend, meteorologists forecast Wednesday.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality light amounts of the African dust is expected to spread further inland from the southern coast by Saturday, in its Wednesday air quality forecast.

The TCEQ warned the dust could raise the daily air quality index to moderate in parts of the Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, Victoria, and Waco-Killeen areas.

Residents near the Texas coast may experience hazy skies on Saturday as a result of the dust, The Weather Channel reported.

Saharan dust travels from Africa to the Caribbean Sea, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico multiple times each year and can stunt the development of tropical storms by creating downdrafts around the system, causing it to weaken.

The present wave of dust made its way from Africa to the Caribbean Wednesday.

NASA’s latest forecast model shows the westernmost portion of the plume of dust spreading across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and into coastal Texas.