SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States.
The dust concentration was high, at .55 aerosol optical depth, the highest amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
However, plumes usually lose most of their concentration in the eastern Caribbean, he noted.
It also prevents tropical waves from forming during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30.
June and July usually have the highest dust concentration on average, with plumes traveling anywhere from 5,000 feet to 20,000 feet above the ground, DaSilva said.
San Juan, Puerto Rico — As it moves toward the United States, a huge cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert covered most of the Caribbean on Monday, the largest such event this year.
From the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago, the cloud stretched about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) and 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean.
AccuWeather’s lead hurricane expert, Alex DaSilva, described it as “very impressive.”.
Across the Caribbean, the foggy skies caused sneezes, coughs, and watery eyes. Local forecasters advised people with asthma, allergies, and other conditions to stay inside or wear face masks if they were going outside.
At .55 aerosol optical depth, the dust concentration was high and the highest so far this year, according to Yidiana Zayas, a National Weather Service forecaster in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
According to the U.S., the aerosol optical depth quantifies the amount of direct sunlight that particles block from reaching the ground. S. . Administration of the Oceans and Atmosphere.
Late this week and into the weekend, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi are predicted to be affected by the plume, according to DaSilva.
But he pointed out that the eastern Caribbean is typically where plumes lose the majority of their concentration.
“Those islands usually experience more of an impact, more of a concentration where it can occasionally actually block out the sun,” he said.
NOAA states that the Saharan Air Layer, a layer of dry, dusty air, originates over Africa’s Sahara Desert and travels west across the Atlantic Ocean from approximately April to October. Additionally, it stops the formation of tropical waves from June 1 to November, when the Atlantic hurricane season occurs. thirty.
On average, the highest concentration of dust occurs in June and July, with plumes rising between 5,000 and 20,000 feet above the ground, according to DaSilva.
