If you are lucky enough to be on island or if you have been watching one of St. John’s webcams, you have probably noticed a thick haze in the sky over the past few days. That haze is actually Saharan dust that has traveled all the way from Africa, and it’s been clogging up our skies here in the Caribbean.
Saharan dust is fine sand and mineral dust that lifts up from the Saharan Desert and travels across the Atlantic and over to the Caribbean. It’s been known to reach the southeastern part of the United States, as well.
When the dust is thick, like it was yesterday, visibility is reduced. It lowers air quality and can affect people with asthma or allergies. It causes people to sneeze, makes you feel like you have a scratchy throat, and it makes your eyes itchy too. One good aspect of the dust, however, is that its dry air prevents tropical storms and hurricanes from forming. It also creates beautiful sunsets.
Here are a few images that show how the dust affects our skies:
The good news is the this dust is moving out of the territory. There is some more dust behind this current system, but it’s not as thick, thankfully.
You can track the Saharan Dust here, just like you can track rain on the radar. MyFoxHurricane.com is the best site to track the dust in my opinion.
You can also see what’s happening live by checking out Explore STJ’s webcam page at www.explorestj.com/webcams.
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