A wide-reaching Sahara dust plume is sweeping across the Caribbean and expected to impact parts of the southern US this week. Here’s how it could affect health, skies, and hurricane season.

It is typical for dust to move across the Atlantic every year in early summer, WKMG reports. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it is called the Saharan Air Layer, which is "a mass of very dry, dusty air that forms over the Sahara Desert during the late spring, summer and early fall."