It’s a summertime topic in South Central Texas: Saharan dust.
While it’s originally stirred up thousands of miles away, it can travel across the Atlantic basin and haze up our sky in San Antonio.
While we’ve only seen light concentrations of dust move through our area over the past week or so, many are wondering what the outlook is in the foreseeable future. Here’s the latest:
Saharan dust forecast
- THIS WEEK (Monday, July 24 - Sunday, July 30): A plume of dust is forecast to arrive late on Tuesday and thicken a bit on Wednesday and Thursday, before dissipating on Friday. Expect a light haze across the sky, along with some colorful sunsets. Air quality is forecast to stay in the moderate range and should not be a big issue for residents of South Central Texas.
How does Saharan dust make it to San Antonio?
- According to NOAA, dust is typically stirred up by tropical waves that trek over the Sahara Desert, especially during the summer months.
- After that dust is lofted into the atmosphere, trade winds (which move from east to west near the equator) pick it up and filter that dust across the Atlantic Basin, sometimes pushing it into the Gulf of Mexico and into the Lone Star State.
- While dust can sometimes irritate those with sensitive respiratory systems depending on the thickness of the plume, it has a few benefits, too! It can create vibrant sunrises and sunsets when present in the air. On top of that, plumes of dust are very dry and can inhibit tropical development and/or intensification in the Atlantic Basin during hurricane season. This is one of the reasons why, as of (7/17), tropical activity in the Atlantic is fairly quiet.
Hazy KSAT Connect photos
A few KSAT viewers managed to catch the light haze in the air this past weekend and shared some of the photos with us on KSAT Connect. Take a look!
Taylor Mcclelland
Another HOT July sunset with a hint of saharan dust at woodlawn Lake.
SkyWatcher (Oscar)
A wispy Saharan dust sunset.
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