Sahara dust wave to clear over weekend

The huge plume of Sahara dust that has dulled the skies of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean over the past week is expect to dissipate over the next two days, the met office has predicted.

Acting Director of Meteorological Services Sabu Best said: “This afternoon (Friday), we issued another dust haze advisory for tonight going into Saturday, but based on our projections, this should improve by Sunday going into Monday.”

But Best added that while the current wave should dissipate by Monday, there may be another one coming next weekend, and his office would issue updates accordingly.

As he showed journalists a map of the dust’s trajectory from the North African desert across the Atlantic Ocean, Best said: “Based on what we are seeing, some of the dust is depleting so it should not last all week. Barbadians will experience some spectacular sunsets and sunrises based on the way the dust will mask the sun, but we are urging those with asthma or other respiratory ailments to keep their medications on hand and to avoid going outside.”

The met office has received calls from people complaining of breathing difficulties, including some of its own staff members. When asked whether the face masks people have been asked to wear as a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic would be effective in controlling the adverse effects of the dust, Best said: “I am not an expert on medical matters, but to my mind wearing a mask would make it difficult to breathe if someone is exercising or involved in some other activity while the dust is in the air. However, I would advise people to consult with their doctors and get advice on how to proceed in that respect.”

But despite the misery associated with the hazy skies, weather forecasters are pointing to a beneficial impact on extreme weather –  the dust inhibits the conditions that lead to the development of hurricanes.

Best noted that while it is “still quite early in the hurricane season… we find that by the time we have most of that activity around September and beyond, there is less dust coming across from northern Africa”,

In another development, the weather chief reported that Barbadians have praised the met office’s new system of colour-coded weather alerts. “Right now the advisories will continue into the weekend; on Sunday we may go into a yellow alert,” he said. “We would advise Barbadians to take the necessary precautions and mariners, especially those without Global Positioning Systems (GPS) on their vessels, should stay close to the shore or risk losing their view of the island.”