Saharan dust moving toward Mid-Missouri
Dust from the Sahara Desert is moving into the United States, traveling thousands of miles from Africa and could make it into Missouri by Sunday morning.
Saharan dust tracks as far west as the Caribbean Sea, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico multiple times each year. It’s called the Saharan air layer (SAL) and pushes westward off Africa into the tropical Atlantic Ocean about every three to five days from late spring through early fall. It’s usually located 5,000 to 20,000 feet above Earth’s surface and is transported westward by bursts of strong easterly winds that are located in the central and western Atlantic. If the winds are strong enough, it can be carried into the U.S.
About 182 million tons of dust leaves Africa every year, and that amount changes depending on the rainfall south of the Sahara. The plume created by the dust is large enough that NASA can track the movement from space.
The cloud of dust blew into south Texas Friday morning and is predicted to travel north through the weekend with trace amounts in Missouri by Sunday. The dust may cause hazy skies but should otherwise be unobservable here. However, farther south into Texas where the dust is thicker, people who are susceptible to asthma or other respiratory issues may experience increased irritation.
Here is a composition map from NASA, showing the forecast path and thickness of the dust. From this, you can see by Sunday, a thin plume of dust is over Missouri which could lead to hazy skies. However, clouds and storms will also be in the area Sunday, making it difficult to see the haze.
