South Florida residents and visitors can expect hazy skies and sweltering heat this weekend, as another surge of Saharan dust drifts across the region, keeping tropical development at bay but pushing air quality and humidity levels higher.

It’s been a dusty start to the 2025 hurricane season with the biggest Saharan dust outbreak of the year reaching the sands of South Florida this week from the soils of West Africa over 4,000 miles away.

It’s the opening week of the 183-day Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. The good news right off the bat: no development is expected for the first full week of the season.

For those following the twists and turns of the topsy turvy hurricane season, you know that this season has been anything but business-as-usual.

If it seems like we’ve been talking a lot about Saharan dust this July, it’s because we have. So far the tropical Atlantic has seen higher dust concentrations than any July in the continuous satellite record (since 2002) with the exception of July 2018.

The post-Beryl Atlantic hangover will keep the tropics bedridden for at least another week, with no development expected into the twilight days of July.

South Florida is bracing for intense heat and moderate air quality levels on Tuesday.

The tropical Atlantic is in the midst of its most significant outbreak of Saharan dust in over two years.

Another heat advisory was issued Wednesday for South Florida, with peak heat indices of 105 to 109 degrees expected throughout the day.

So far the Atlantic hurricane season hasn’t thrown us any curveballs. It’s been business-as-usual for June with lots of rich tropical air getting pulled out of the Caribbean, one named tropical storm (Alberto) that formed almost to the day we’d expect our first named storm, and two close-call tropical depressions that just couldn’t make it the extra mile.

Invest 94L in the far north-central Atlantic struggles against harsh wind shear for now.

As we discussed in previous newsletters, after a busy June, the Atlantic continues to take an expected and much welcome summer break to start July.

When the tropics are quiet, there’s an easy culprit meteorologists – including yours truly – love to point their fingers to: Saharan dust.

Tropical waves currently traversing the Atlantic Basin are not on the verge of developing -- that includes one in the eastern Atlantic that has, at times, looked somewhat interesting in its satellite presentation.

The tropical Atlantic this week has been closed for business, thanks to the largest outbreak of Saharan dust since early June and a prominent upper-level low pinwheeling its way from the central Atlantic toward South Florida, keeping hostile upper winds locked in over the Caribbean.

The first large plume of Saharan dust made the 4,000+ mile journey across the Atlantic to South Florida, turning the sky a gray and dull.

The large area of disturbed weather across the tropical Atlantic just south of the Saharan dust plume has three distinct circulations embedded in it.

The first tropical depression in a month has a fair chance of eventually forming out of Tropical Disturbance #2, which has crossed the African coastline and is now over the Atlantic waters.

The National Hurricane Center is making note of three disturbances: One midway between Africa and the Caribbean and two near the African coast.

The beginning of August is working out like the odds say it should. The tropics are, on average, fairly quiet this time of year, and nothing appears threatening through this week, at least.

The tropics are taking a July break, as they often do. Dry air in the middle levels of the atmosphere is dominating the ocean, and the computer forecast models say there’s more to come.

The National Hurricane Center has designated a tropical disturbance as Potential Tropical Cyclone Five, which allows watches and warnings to be issued for land areas – in this case, some of the eastern Caribbean islands.

We’re still tracking two tropical disturbances in the Atlantic, but Tropical Disturbance #2 about midway between the Caribbean islands and Africa has most of our interest.

Sunsets across Florida in the coming days could become even more spectacular, as clouds of dust from the Sahara desert sweep in across the Atlantic coast.

The National Hurricane Center is taking note of a somewhat-organized tropical disturbance in the far eastern Atlantic. The disturbance is sneaking under a big batch of dry Saharan air, which is still spread across the tropics. The disturbance has a limited window of time to develop before it drives into the dry air and somewhat hostile upper winds. At the end of the week, the upper winds and the dry air are forecast to affect the system. Pockets of dry air aloft are forecast to pass over South Florida this week, which will limit the rain when they do.

Watch above as Bryan Norcross delivers a tropical update for July 8, 2020. Theres a system to watch off the East Coast, and Saharan dust will continue to approach Florida over the next week.

A belt of Saharan dust continues to spread across the tropical Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The dry, dusty air is expected to keep the tropics quiet through this week, at least. Tropical disturbances are moving off Africa on schedule, but they can only exist at low latitudes, south of the dust belt. Over the next couple of days, the system is forecast to consolidate over or near the North Carolina coast and track north as a coastal storm. If it moves over the warm water of the Gulf Stream, it might gain some aspects of a tropical system.

A combination of dry Saharan air and a strong high-pressure system stretching across the Atlantic will keep the tropics quiet through the weekend, and likely well beyond. The first surge of Saharan dust that we have been tracking all week is forecast to loop around the Gulf of Mexico and move down the Florida peninsula over the weekend. Generally these disturbances cant organize because of the Saharan Air Layer of dusty air they have to plow through. In Florida, when there is a layer of Saharan air in the atmosphere, we normally have lower thunderstorm chances than normal. Inland high temperatures over the weekend will push into the mid-90s once again, with feels-like temperatures well above 100.

Bryan and Local 10 meteorologist Luke Dorris discuss the superplume of Saharan dust in the Atlantic, the unusually early arrival of the 4th named storm of the season, and a project by the National Weather Service to streamline weather alerts, called HazSimp, with National Weather Service meteorologist Eli JacksYou can watch the conversation above, or download the audio podcast below. SUBSCRIBE to The Bryan Norcross Podcast - iTunes | Android

The atmospheric conditions in the tropical Atlantic continue to inhibit the development of tropical systems. A robust wave which just crossed the African coast is about a week away from our vicinity. Fifteen years ago today, Category 4 Hurricane Charley hit Southwest Florida near Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers. The consensus was that Charley was going to hit Tampa. That was even though Southwest Florida was in the cone and the odds of a hurricane coming within 75 miles were higher in Fort Myers that morning than Tampa.

The atmospheric conditions in the tropical Atlantic continue to inhibit the development of tropical systems. A robust wave which just crossed the African coast is about a week away from our vicinity. Fifteen years ago today, Category 4 Hurricane Charley hit Southwest Florida near Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers. The consensus was that Charley was going to hit Tampa. That was even though Southwest Florida was in the cone and the odds of a hurricane coming within 75 miles were higher in Fort Myers that morning than Tampa.

No tropical development is expected through the weekend. The tropical Atlantic is covered with a combination of Saharan dust and unfavorable upper-level winds. These conditions are expected to prevent any development of tropical systems into the weekend. CLICK HERE to have the Bryan Norcross Talks Tropics newsletter delivered to your inbox. The upper-level system that has been pulling up tropical moisture and producing heavy rain over South Florida is moving out.

No tropical development is expected through the weekend. The tropical Atlantic is covered with a combination of Saharan dust and unfavorable upper-level winds. These conditions are expected to prevent any development of tropical systems into the weekend. CLICK HERE to have the Bryan Norcross Talks Tropics newsletter delivered to your inbox. The upper-level system that has been pulling up tropical moisture and producing heavy rain over South Florida is moving out.

Tropical waves are coming off of Africa on schedule, and a number of them this year have been quite robust. The atmosphere over the tropical Atlantic has been unusually dry, however, largely because of Saharan dust blowing over the ocean. On average, late July is a fairly quiet time in the tropics, with activity picking up significantly by the second week of August. For now, no tropical development is expected through the middle of next week, at least. CLICK HERE to have the Bryan Norcross Talks Tropics newsletter delivered to your inbox.

MIAMI - The same high-pressure and Saharan dust that has been making it so hot in South Florida, is also unfavorable for any tropical development. While the local weather pattern will finally change to something more like normal for the end of June, the rest of the tropics are expected to remain unfavorable for development into at least early July. CLICK HERE to have the Bryan Norcross Talks Tropics newsletter delivered to your inbox. Its been unusually quiet up until now, but a tiny storm, Tropical Storm Alvin, has developed well offshore of the Mexican coast. Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.