After engulfing the Caribbean, a massive Saharan dust cloud the size of the continental United States is charging toward American soil.
The natural phenomenon threatens air quality across southeastern states, but also brings a silver lining that Americans will appreciate.
Specifically, the dust cloud is expected to suppress the formation of tropical storms that could otherwise end in disaster.
Described by meteorologists as a “London fog” with an “orange glow” at sunset, the colossal dust plume has already blanketed the Caribbean in a rusty haze.
Stretching about 2,000 miles from Jamaica to beyond Barbados and 750 miles from the Turks and Caicos Islands to Trinidad and Tobago, this natural event dwarfs anything seen this season.
“It’s the biggest one we’ve had so far this season,” said Jason Dunion, a meteorologist with the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The dust concentration measured an aerosol optical depth of .55, the highest recorded this year.
Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi residents can expect the dusty invasion by the weekend.
Although the cloud may cause respiratory irritation for some, it brings beneficial effects by suppressing potentially destructive weather systems.
This annual meteorological event, known as the Saharan Air Layer, forms over the African desert and travels westward across the Atlantic from April through October, peaking in June and July.
The dust travels at altitudes between 5,000 and 20,000 feet above ground level.
“It’s like rinse and repeat every year, it’s part of a normal cycle of Earth’s oscillations,” explained meteorologist Sammy Hadi.
Health officials recommend staying indoors or wearing face masks for those with respiratory conditions.
The dust causes sneezing, coughing, and watery eyes, particularly affecting people with allergies and asthma.
“There’s a lot of dry air, and you don’t feel that dry air, but the clouds feel it because as they grow and form thunderstorms, they run into that dry air and they just collapse,” said Dunion.
The Caribbean islands have borne the brunt of the dusty onslaught. “Those islands tend to see more of an impact, more of a concentration where it can actually block out the sun a little bit at times,” noted Alex DaSilva, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.
In 2020, a record-breaking Saharan dust event dubbed the “Godzilla dust cloud” affected the Caribbean with a size and concentration not seen in 50 years.
For Southeastern states, the silver lining comes in spectacular sunrises and sunsets created by the dust particles scattering sunlight.
The natural phenomenon typically subsides by August and September, just as hurricane season reaches its peak.
