Haze to clear soon

The hazy weather Barbados is currently experiencing, caused by the massive plume of Saharan dust moving across the Atlantic Ocean, will gradually subside over the next few days.

Senior Meteorologist at the Barbados Meteorological Services Semelka Jackman told Barbados TODAY that although the haze advisory has been discontinued, residents should expect conditions to continue for a bit longer.

“We’ve had a dust haze event, which means that we have seen hazy conditions across Barbados which occurred from about Monday afternoon. The haze condition gradually increased, so there was a peak (Wednesday) into (Wednesday) night, which is why we would have issued the dust/haze advisory which would have been valid from (Wednesday) afternoon to (Thursday) afternoon at 12 noon.

“The advisory has been discontinued but that does not mean that there are no hazy conditions outside. We are seeing moderate haze outside and that is expected to persist this afternoon into (Thursday night),” Jackman said.

The Met officer said Barbadians should expect moderate to light haze to remain into the weekend, and that people with respiratory issues could be affected during that time, but the skies should clear up within a few days.

Jackman added that although such conditions are hard to predict on a year-by-year basis, Barbadians should expect to see hazy conditions again around April.

“For Barbados, haze is a real hazard for us, it is something that we see yearly. Normally, we see it start to peak from April, so this is an early haze event but it is not unheard of. It is something that you can expect to see during the year,” she said. “How intense the haze can be can vary from year to year. I remember in 2020 we had severe haze and we had issued multiple advisories at that time. That is not something that we had done subsequent to 2020.”

Meanwhile, Communications Specialist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Shane Sealy said while the hospital has not seen any additional uptick in patients with breathing issues because of the dust, Barbadians who suffer from asthma, sinuses and other respiratory ailments should continue to take precautions. (SB)