Saharan dust clouds are headed toward Central Florida this week, bringing with them lower chances of rainstorms and spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
The Saharan dust clouds will most likely reach Central Florida by the end of this week.
Meteorologist Rob Eicher said the dust clouds will decrease our area’s chances of rainstorms, which will continue the trend of record-breaking heat.
“So if you don't get afternoon showers and thunderstorms, it gets really hot. And it looks like we're still gonna get afternoon showers and thunderstorms the later part of the week, on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but they may not form until really late in the day," said Eicher. "So seven, eight o'clock at night. So at that point. The damage is already done. It’s already warned up to 95, 96 degrees.”
Eicher said the good news is that the Saharan dust protects us from hurricanes and brings dynamic sunsets and sunrises.
“Parts of southern Florida are already seeing some of that dust. We might see a little bit of a drift up in this direction, here a little bit later on in the week," said Eicher. "But in terms of its impacts to our weather, it'll be pretty minimal. You might notice the sunrise or sunset is a little bit brighter, more orange, more colorful. So it actually makes for nice, pretty sunrises and sunsets.”
Eicher says the clouds of dust are too high up in the atmosphere to affect most people’s allergies.