The plume is expected to strike Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late this week and right into the weekend.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico– A substantial cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the largest occasion of its kind this year as it heads towards the United States.
The cloud extended some 2, 000 miles (3, 200 kilometers) from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 750 miles (1, 200 kilometers) from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down southern to Trinidad and Tobago.
“It’s extremely excellent,” stated Alex DaSilva, lead typhoon professional with AccuWeather.
The hazy skies released sneezes, coughs and watery eyes across the Caribbean, with neighborhood forecasters advising that those with allergies, bronchial asthma and other conditions should remain inside or wear face masks if outdoors.
The dust concentration was high, at. 55 aerosol optical depth, the highest possible amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Climate Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The aerosol optical deepness steps just how much direct sunshine is avoided from getting to the ground by bits, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Management.
The plume is anticipated to hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late today and into the weekend break, DaSilva stated.
Nevertheless, plumes generally lose the majority of their concentration in the eastern Caribbean, he noted.
“Those islands often tend to see even more of an effect, more of a concentration where it can really block out the sun a bit at times,” he said.
The dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer develops over the Sahara Desert in Africa and moves west throughout the Atlantic Sea starting around April until about October, according to NOAA. It also avoids tropical waves from developing during the Atlantic hurricane season , which runs June 1 to Nov. 30
June and July usually have the greatest dirt focus usually, with plumes taking a trip anywhere from 5, 000 feet to 20, 000 feet above the ground, DaSilva stated.
In June 2020, a record-breaking cloud of Sahara dirt surrounded the Caribbean. The size and focus of the plume hadn’t been seen in half a century, motivating forecasters to nickname it the “Godzilla dust cloud.”
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