Dust from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa is being carried by the wind over the Atlantic Ocean and towards us. The Caribbean has already started seeing dust in their skies, creating reddish sunsets the past few days. This plume of dust is expected to make its way to Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma over the weekend.
The dust cloud is several thousand miles wide. However its not quite at the ground. Most of the dust is actually trapped in the middle of the atmosphere between 5,000 to 20,000 feet above sea level. The further south you live towards the Gulf Coast, the more dust will be in your sky.
This should all clear out by Monday as a weak front pushes through the region.
-Matt