Sahara desert dust blankets Caribbean, making air quality hazardous

Dust coming from the Sahara desert arrives in the Caribbean. Photo / NOAA, AP

A vast cloud of Sahara dust is blanketing the Caribbean as it heads to the United States with a size and concentration that experts say hasn't been seen in half a century.

Air quality across most of the region fell to record "hazardous" levels and experts who nicknamed the event the "Godzilla dust cloud" warned people to stay indoors and use air filters if they have one.

"This is the most significant event in the past 50 years," said Pablo Méndez Lázaro, an environmental health specialist with the University of Puerto Rico. "Conditions are dangerous in many Caribbean islands."

Why is the tropical Atlantic so quiet? Believe it or not, dust from the Sahara Desert! Here's a look at the next few days- showing more and more of it' pic.twitter.com/SNqFkHjUc7

— Eric Burris (@EricBurrisWESH) June 16, 2020

Many health specialists were concerned about those battling respiratory symptoms tied to Covid-19. Lázaro, who is working with Nasa to develop an alert system for the arrival of Sahara dust, said the concentration was so high in recent days that it could even have adverse effects on healthy people.

Extremely hazy conditions and limited visibility were reported from Antigua down to Trinidad & Tobago, with the event expected to last until tomorrow.

Some people posted pictures of themselves on social media wearing double masks to ward off the coronarivus and the dust, while others joked that the Caribbean looked like it had received a yellow filter movie treatment.

SNAPSHOT: A look at the sky right now in Barbados as a thick layer of Sahara dust continues to affect the area for the third day; Barbados Met Office issues a significant dust haze advisory for Barbados until 6PM today pic.twitter.com/gFLSW8xkto

— Kevz Politics (@KevzPolitics) June 22, 2020

José Alamo, a meteorologist with the US National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said the worst days for the US territory would be today and tomorrow as the plume travels toward the US southeast coast. The main international airport in San Juan was reporting only 8km of visibility.

The mass of extremely dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer forms over the Sahara Desert and moves across the North Atlantic every three to five days from late northern spring to early autumn, peaking in late June to mid-August, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It can occupy a roughly 3.2km thick layer in the atmosphere, the agency said.

Alamo said a small tropical wave headed to the Caribbean was expected to alleviate conditions by Friday.

- AP