Where that haze in the sky came from and why it can make some people sick

The haze across Texas that traveled all the way from the Sahara Desert in Africa has been getting plenty of attention over the last week.

While it partially blocked views of the sky over the weekend, it has also led to the highest particulate levels this year across the Dallas-Fort Worth area and other parts of Texas.

The dust will be circulating in the air on Tuesday, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) forecast.

"At least light amounts of Africa dust will continue across the majority of the state generally along and east of a line from Presidio to Kermit, with the second wave of heavier dust arriving along the coast and pushing inland into at least South and Central Texas over the course of the day," the TCEQ said, pushing DFW into the moderate range.

The impact has been felt by those suffering respiratory ailments, said Fort Worth allergist James Haden. It is vitally important that patients take their medications before going outside for July Fourth activities.

"Dust of any kind in the air, whether from Africa or anywhere else, if present in sufficient quantity will cause nasal, eye and chest symptoms even in people who do not usually suffer from those problems," Haden said. "If there are underlying allergies, the problems are just compounded."

How long will the poor air quality stick around?

There's a chance it could start improving later this week, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Bishop.

"I think it will hang around until at least Thursday," Bishop said. "But we'll be getting a disturbance mixing things up in the atmosphere later in the week. We'll have a slim chance for rain on the Fourth of July, but we'll have better chances over the weekend."

This story was originally published July 3, 2018 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Where that haze in the sky came from and why it can make some people sick."