Transatlantic Sahara Dust Cloud Projected

| June 21, 2020

 

Saharan dust makes it all the way across the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico and then moves up the USA east coast.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/abnormally-large-dust-cloud-making-5000-mile-trek-across-atlantic/761708

And this from NASA as the cloud grew bigger:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-observes-large-saharan-dust-plume-over-atlantic-ocean

NWS (National Weather Service) gives us both a satellite image of the dust cloud and a very cool video graphic (below) of the projected track of the dust cloud across the Atlantic to the Gulf of  Mexico and the USA, including its path as it bends back and goes up the US east coast.

https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/1273666395746770946

Twitterverse video posted by NWS – Eastern region, shows the projected track of the dust cloud from its origin in the Sahara across the Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico. The link below is to a graphics projection of its expected path.

It is not forecast yet to have any expected effect on the weather in the southern and eastern USA, other than spectacularly colorful sunsets.

https://twitter.com/NWSEastern/status/1274073027823763458?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Don’t know why they left out sunrises, when the projected track of the dust cloud takes it in a back loop across Florida and up the East Coast, but the possibility of brilliant sunrises is also there.

Category: It's science!

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OlafTheTanker

Arizona already has some spectacular sunsets, but when I was living there in ’91, days after Mt Pinatubo erupted we had about a week or so of some sunsets that looked like they belonged on the cover of a 50’s pulp sci-fi novel.

Wish I had a digital camera back then, only have some crappy worn out prints of what I took and the negatives were lost long ago.

26Limabeans

Dust Storm? Sheesh, try living on a dirt road.

26Limabeans

dirt road backstreet:

https://youtu.be/sLAuzVb-C_o?t=12

George V

Learning something new every day is supposed to keep your brain working. I’ve checked that block for today. This from the NASA Website link was interesting:
“Normally, hundreds of millions of tons of dust are picked up from the deserts of Africa and blown across the Atlantic Ocean each year.”

And the article states the dust builds beaches and fertilizes the soil. (Sand? Really? Was all that money on lawn fertilizer wasted?)

But, this being 2020, this will be blamed on CO2 and become another reason to ban coal, oil and natural gas in ..3..2..1…

A Proud Infidel®™

WAIT A MINUTE, how do we know it isn’t Trump’s fault? Tellya what, let’s ask Major Moonbat!

5th/77th FA

Something else coming out of Africa that we don’t need? FTA “…may and or may not cause changes in the tropical weather…” “…may break up but keep coming…” “…affect persons with underlying…”

Guess they can’t come right out and say that there will be effects from this, besides colorful sunrises and sunsets. That would be raciss. #dustcloudsmatter

OWB

Others have said that these dust storms do temper hurricane/tropical storm activity. Heard one of those weatherpersons say that years with the worst dust storm activity have fewer hurricanes with less intensity. Maybe they do contribute something positive besides beautiful sunsets?

old98z

Consensus forecast is for a significantly active Atlantic and Gulf tropical weather season. Forecasts can be found at this link – which is one of the most watched on the internet during hurricane season –
https://www.reddit.com/r/TropicalWeather/.

Somewhere in that site is science confirming what OWB says, Saharan dust seems to reduce Atlantic storms.

With La Nina intensifying, this may be a year for the record books.
Good luck if you live in a coastal storm zone and hope everyone stays healthy.

AW1Ed

In Sigonella we would get crushed between the sirocco, a Mediterranean wind that comes from the South blowing Sahara dust, and when the wind changed, ash from Mt. Etna 10 klicks to our North.
Hot gritty summers.

MustangCryppie

Cool. I live in the Florida Panhandle. Look forward to the sunsets.

And hope that we don’t get what I ran into in Andrews, Texas way back in 1981. Driving down the road in my VW Bug and BOOM! There was a wall of dust coming at my wife and me. Didn’t even have time to pull off the road. Couldn’t even see past the hood of the car and dust started coming into the car through the vents!

Then it was over almost as fast as it started. What the hey!

By the way, Andrews had (and may still) have the greatest welcome sign in the USA.

“Andrews Loves God, Country, and Supports Free Enterprise”

Loved it! Took a pic of it but of course have no idea where it is.

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

Hopefully Florida will just get a dusting and we will all adust to the situation and not have too many dusty Rhodes.

11B-Mailclerk

Sheesh! All we need is more Illegal Allergen Immigration.

It is nothing to sneeze at.