What is the Saharan Dust Layer?

Many of you may or may not have already heard about the Saharan dust that is impacting the weather directly here in Florida. This short article will explain the causes of Saharan dust and the impacts it has on weather.

Essentially, sand and dust from the Saharan Desert itself get spun up into the atmosphere due to high winds. These high winds are typically caused by thunderstorms and/or cyclones that spin up within the desert. Eventually, it gets so high into the atmosphere that it gets caught in the jet stream over the Atlantic Ocean, right off the coast of Northern Africa, ironically where we also typically see tropical storm development.

The dust then travels along with the jet stream into the Southeastern USA region, Caribbean, etc.

The dust in the atmosphere is one of the reasons why we tend to not see much tropical storm development over the Atlantic region or super wet conditions in the Southeast. This is because of how dry the atmosphere becomes and we know that a drier atmosphere does not help when it comes to forming clouds/thunderstorms.

Not only does the dust limit tropical development, it also impacts air quality. Typically, the air quality index is around the moderate range when the dust affects the Southeastern United States. Due to lower air quality, humans can see impacts as well. The groups of people that are affected the most usually have asthma, COPD, or respiratory issues. With that being said, a healthy person can also see mild symptoms from the dust, including itchy eyes, nose, throat, and even some skin irritations depending on the intensity of the dust.

If you are someone that may suffer from poor air quality and allergies, some things you can do are limit time outdoors, keep windows closed, and even wear a mask if desired when going outside. Thankfully, the air quality is not always around the moderate level every day during a dust event. It varies based on the current day’s weather and, of course, where exactly the jet stream is located within the atmosphere. It is always a great idea to keep track of the air quality index, which you can find here.

Overall, the direct impacts from this dust that SWFL will see over the rest of July or whenever the dust subsides will be lower rain/T-Storm chances each day (but not zero chances for rain), plenty of sunshine, good beach days, and MOST importantly very colorful sunsets! So, be sure to head down to the Gulf and take lots of pictures during the sunset when you can. 

Lastly, once again when I mention lower rain chances I don’t mean 0%. There will be some days where there may be some chances for isolated showers and storms and that is something that I will still be watching of course. Don’t forget it is considered “rainy season” in Florida even if it doesn’t feel like it at the moment.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you found this somewhat informative in case this is something new for you. Feel free to comment down below your thoughts on the Saharan Dust and how it affects you!

~ Joey

Sources: CDC Saharan Dust