Largest Saharan Dust Cloud of the Year Heads Toward Texas

A massive cloud of Saharan dust has developed, stretching across nearly the entire Atlantic Basin from the Cape Verde Islands off of the coast of Senegal in West Africa, all the way to the eastern Caribbean islands of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Aruba.

FORECAST: A few isolated storms are possible across South Central Texas this week.

Within this plume, the highest concentration of dust particles is over the eastern Caribbean. Because trade winds are moving from the east-southeast, this wind direction is expected to push the dust cloud straight into the Gulf of Mexico and eventually into Texas.

Texas already encountered a plume of Saharan dust earlier this month, but the incoming cloud will likely be larger and become more widespread across the state. Here’s a look at exactly when we can expect the dust to arrive across the Lone Star State.

Dust plume timeline

Friday: The largest concentration of Saharan dust will have moved over the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Bahamas and South Florida. Some dust is also expected to head into the eastern Gulf of Mexico by Friday, but Texas will not see effects from it quite yet.

Sunday: The western extent of the Saharan dust cloud will start to make its way along the Texas Gulf Coast, especially by late Sunday afternoon and evening. Air quality will decrease slightly, but the dust will likely give way to vibrant sunsets across parts of South and East Texas.

Monday and Tuesday: Here’s when the highest concentration of dust will enter Texas. You will likely notice hazy skies across many major Texas cities, including San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi and Houston. Some dust may also extend northward to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Air quality is likely to decrease significantly. This is because Saharan dust is composed of microscopic mineral dust particles, such as silica and quartz, which can be inhaled deeply into the lungs and trigger respiratory irritation or inflammation.

Thankfully, a large part of the population will not encounter major issues, but the increased dust could cause allergy flare-ups, including eye and throat irritation.

More sensitive groups, including infants, the elderly and those with asthma or other cardiovascular issues, could encounter larger problems with the decreased air quality. If you are in one of these groups with sensitive respiratory systems, health experts recommend that you limit your time outdoors and avoid strenuous activity outside.

Midweek to late week: Saharan dust may linger into Wednesday of next week, but dust concentrations are likely to decrease substantially by Thursday and Friday.

Reduced tropical activity

This large area of Saharan dust is the latest example of one the main reasons why we’ve seen so little Atlantic tropical cyclone activity to start the 2025 hurricane season. The dust carries with it especially dry air, which is not suitable for tropical storm or hurricane formation.

The first named tropical storm of the year, Andrea, was able to form over the middle of the North Atlantic on Tuesday. However, it developed north of the main plume of Saharan dust, in an area more suitable for tropical formation, at least temporarily. The storm was extremely short-lived and lost its tropical designation a mere 12 hours after it officially formed.

With more rounds of Saharan dust likely to continue moving off of the westernmost coastlines of Africa over the next several days, the tropics are expected to stay quiet. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center so far don’t expect tropical systems to form in the Atlantic over the next seven days.