Sahara dust coming to Florida
Saharan Dust has been wiped out off the coast of Africa and is working on central Florida this week.
Fox-35 Orlando
Set to clean Florida and the Gulf Coast this week, it appears that dust plumes from the Sahara deserts are appearing.
Accuweather Hurricane expert Alex Dasilva said in a report released by the forecasting company on June 2 that the plume is about 2,000 miles from west to east and 750 miles from north to south. The plume appears to be the largest ever reached the US this year.
Alan Reppert, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather, told USA Today on June 2 that Ploom is likely to cross Florida on June 4th and travel the Gulf Coast over the next two days.
Reppert told USA Today that the sunset over the dusty area is “more vibrant” depending on the amount of dust in the area.
“Florida was able to see hazy skies and more colorful sunsets as early as Thursday, strengthened by dust from Africa,” Dasilva said in the report. “In Houston and New Orleans, the hazy sky caused by Sahara dust can be prominent.”
Areas covered with dust plumes can have slight effects on air quality, but most of the dust is not dense enough to cause major problems.
What is Saharan dust?
Saharan dust is the dust and sand of the African continent, and is brought in by the wind around this time.
Winds, known as trade winds, picked up Sahara dust, lifted it into the atmosphere, and across the Atlantic Ocean to previously communicated Ross Jaratana, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay Prediction Office to USA Today. June and July are the most dusty months.
Sammy Hady, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said: “It’s like rinsing and repeating every year, and it’s part of the normal cycle of Earth’s vibration.”
According to Dasilva and Giarratana, Saharan Dust also controls the number of storms that form in the tropical regions.
Warm, wet environments are important to cause a storm, but dust acts like the silica packets people receive in their packages, absorbing any moisture that may be found in the atmosphere.
“Essentially you can suffocate these systems because, again, they want plenty of water. And when you take away the water, it makes it difficult for a thunderstorm to develop,” Dasilva said before.
Dasilva said in the report that the so-called “dirty rain” could leave dust stains and brown residue in Florida cars this weekend.
“It’s just dust,” Dasilva previously told USA Today. “It won’t hurt you.”
