Sahara Dust Makes its Way to Belize

After a week or so of muting the skies in the Eastern Caribbean, Sahara Dust has made its way west to Belize. And in case you are wondering – YES! THAT Sahara…the huge desert over 5000 miles from Belize’s shores. So far away and yet, it can have a huge effect on this area of the world.

You all know about Hurricane Season—storms that roll off the Sahara and spawn over the warm ocean. But earlier, we can see the effects of Sahara Dust—dust and dry air—from Northern Africa—that also rolls over the Alantic and then the Caribbean. Dampening the impact of tropical storms this early in the season HOORAY!, but sometimes making our skies…well…grey and…dusty BOO!

(See some crazy pictures of Sahara dust over Southern Europe just a few weeks ago)

It’s a natural event. It gets worse in some years (in 2020, the cloud was called a once-in-50-60-year giant named “Godzilla”) and is almost non-existent in others. 2020 was actually the first year I became aware of the phenomenon!

That was AN EXTREME YEAR. The next year, it was a non-event.

Overall, when it occurs, it tends to be greyer in the morning and can “burn off” as the day goes on. However, it can produce some dramatic sunsets. If you are sensitive to dust or have allergies, it can affect you. (Bring your Flonase if you have allergies just in case – Flonase is what ALWAYS works for me).

Here are a few photos of this week.

Here is where you can watch the forecast – looks like it might make its way up to Texas? Oh…and How Long is it Going to Last? It could be a few days…or a week? Watch the forecast linked.

Thursday (yesterday) at about 830am.

And then this morning. Here it comes in earnest. A bit like Tattoine or the set of Dune.

Who said Belize doesn’t have seasons?