Saharan Dust From Africa Travels 5,000 Miles, Reaches Some States in the USA

Africa's Saharan Dust traveled thousands of miles and reached some states in America without impeding Hurricane Beryl.

Africa's Saharan Dust in the United States

Saharan dust, also known as African dust, yellow dust, yellow sand, yellow wind, or Sahara dust storm, is mineral dust ejected from the Sahara, the world's largest scorching desert. Between late spring and early fall, the vast plume of extremely dry and dusty air travels more than 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) across the Atlantic toward the United States.

Summertime is the peak season for the Saharan Air Layer, when dust storms occur most frequently. Pockets of dust are released from these storms every three to five days, and they can move to new locations. This week, the cloud of dust that left Africa around two weeks ago moved across the Gulf Coast states, affecting local weather patterns from Florida to Texas.

Though relatively thin in the atmosphere, the two-mile-thick layer of dry air significantly impacts the weather. According to meteorologist Jason Dunion of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Hurricane Program Field Director, "The dry air can suppress afternoon clouds and help cool things down, but you can still get storms popping in the late afternoon." These dust outbreaks can also result in some of your hottest days in states like Texas and Alabama.

The most intriguing thing about this specific outbreak was that, despite being what scientists anticipate to see this time of year, it didn't stop Hurricane Beryl from moving across the Atlantic.

Tropical systems require a lot of moisture to form, which can be weakened by dust and dry air. Unfortunately, Beryl was at the right place at the right time.

Nestled on its southern side was Beryl. It could still feed in that humid tropical air down south of the dust epidemic. On the north side of Beryl on Monday [July 8], a lot of that dry air traveled with the storm as it passed across the Caribbean, per Dunion. This brought with it a lot of that Saharan dust. A tropical system can still intensify if it can remain far enough south to be shielded from that arid air.

However, some of these systems that break that layer of dust tend to curve towards the north, which can seriously weaken them.

ALSO READ: NOAA's GOES-16 Captures Hurricane Beryl As It Made Landfall on Carriacou Island [Watch]

Hurricane Beryl Shows How Global Warming Can Intensify Storm

Beryl broke records, being the first hurricane to hit category 4 in June. After that, it quickly reached Category 5, signifying a rapid increase. According to Anne-Claire Fontan, scientific officer of the WMO's tropical cyclone program, it started the season in Category 5 quite early on.

Fontan noted that temperature impacts hurricane intensity. Due to global warming, more intense and destructive storms could hit us.

She went on to say that Beryl is a good illustration of the kinds of systems we should expect in the future—Category 5 storms that are strong rainmakers with a lot of energy at sea level and rapidly increasing.

She added that there is not necessarily a direct correlation between global warming and an increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones. However, Fontan cautioned that we could expect a shift toward far more robust systems with much stronger winds. More rain will be associated with tropical cyclones in a warmer climate with a better capacity to retain moisture, which is another influence.