A huge cloud of dust blown up from the Sahara Desert in Africa is expected to arrive in the U.S. late this week.

The dust plume, which is about 2,000 miles wide from east to west, is forecast to sweep up through the Caribbean and into the southeastern U.S. as early as Wednesday.

The dust is driven by waves of low pressure that move westward from Africa across the tropics, gathered into a phenomenon called the Saharan Air Layer . The windy conditions pick up dust from the desert and spread it over the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes as far west as the United States.

This year, the dust has already caused hazy skies and some respiratory trouble for residents on Caribbean islands. The plume is forecast to reach Florida and parts of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi this week and into the week

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