A Saharan dust cloud is headed to the U.S.: How does this occur?
The cloud of dust, which is believed to stretch 2,000 miles west to east and 750 miles from north to south, will first hit Florida and then spread to other states, according to USA Today. When it reaches Florida it will have traveled over 5,000 miles from North Africa.
This is the largest Saharan dust cloud so far this year to travel across the Atlantic.
It is expected to have little effect on air quality, as it will remain high in the atmosphere, but Floridians should see hazy skies or colorful sunrises and sunsets midweek.
'Typically we have nice blue skies, but with the dust, the whole sky looks soft and warm because the particles themselves are red,' said Joseph Prospero, professor emeritus at the University of Miami Center for Aerosol Science and Technology, according to The New York Times.
'Everything looks muted,' he added.
This dust is technically known as the Saharan Air Layer, or SAL, and is a relatively common feature, according to The Washington Post. It is more unusual to see the SAL stay so strong after journeying across the ocean.
The SAL is a very dry and dusty mass of air that forms above the Sahara Desert in late spring, summer and early fall, according to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. Every few days the dust clouds move over the Atlantic Ocean.
According to The New York Times, the dry layer of air that makes up the SAL hovers around a mile above the Earth's surface and can be up to 2.5 miles deep.
The SAL is carried west by the same winds that kick up hurricane season. These dust events can happen year-round but the largest occur from mid-June to late July and after early August the plumes of dust tend not to travel as far.
Earlier this year a few smaller SALs crossed the ocean but this is the first significant plume of the year.
'It happens every year; some years have more dust transportation across the Atlantic than others,' said Sammy Hadi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Miami, per The New York Times.
'It's like rinse and repeat every year, it's part of a normal cycle of Earth's oscillations.'
Since the SAL is brought on by the same winds that drive tropical disturbances, excessive levels of dust can suppress and stifle tropical storms. This happens because the dust clouds are so dry and tropical storms require moisture to grow, per The Washington Post.
The dust cloud is formed by light dry sands and other minerals, but they require a jet stream positioned correctly to send them westward. The SAL can also be shot northward toward Europe.
This particular cloud that will reach the U.S. stirred up over Africa near Chad in late May.
Meteorologists get plenty of notice for when an SAL is headed to the U.S., since the dust storms are visible by satellite developing over the Sahara seven to 10 days before reaching the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico, per The New York Times.
Earlier this week, the dust cloud covered the Caribbean islands on its way to the U.S. The cloud was dense and caused hazy skies in Puerto Rico, and early Wednesday morning the cloud was affecting Cuba, per USA Today.
The plume of dust should reach south Florida by Wednesday afternoon or evening, and then on Thursday it is expected to spread to the rest of Florida going north into parts of Georgia and South Carolina.
By the weekend, it is predicted to reach other Gulf Coast and Southeastern states such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, reported AccuWeather. It is then expected to dissipate.
Jason Dunion, a meteorologist who monitors Saharan dust and hurricanes, has been in Puerto Rico during a Saharan dust event before, per The New York Times.
'There's a lot of dry air, and you don't feel that dry air, but the clouds feel it because as they grow and form thunderstorms, they run into that dry air and they just collapse,' he said. 'They get stifled. So as this comes through to a place like Puerto Rico, you're going to tend to have fewer thunderstorms. It's going to probably be one of our hotter days. And very hazy. The haze is incredible.'
It is possible that the Saharan dust could collide with smoke which made its way to the U.S. from wildfires burning in Canada, per USA Today.
The smoke has caused unhealthy air quality in several states over the last week, including Minnesota and Wisconsin. It has also caused moderate air quality across most of the eastern half of the country.
Later in the week, there could be a small area where the smoke and dust come together over the southeast, per USA Today. It should not cause health or safety issues, except for sensitive groups.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
These 14 states may see Northern Lights this week. See the list.
The night sky may be illuminated over the next few days in more than a dozen northern US states, courtesy of a natural phenomenon known as the Northern Lights. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers report that the celestial glow should be visible through Wednesday, Aug. 20, in at least 14 states. Formally known as the aurora borealis, according to the National Weather Service, the colorful night skies are caused by the interaction between Earth's magnetic field and the Sun's plasma. What is the K-index? According to the agency, NOAA is predicting a geomagnetic K-index of 5. The index, according to NOAA, indicates how far away from the poles the Northern Lights might be visible. The K-index (also called Kp) stands for 'Planetary Index' and is an indicator of disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field. It ranges from 0 to 9, according to NOAA, and a Kp score between 3 and 5 indicates brighter activity. Using the geomagnetic storm scale, NOAA ranked the expected event as 1 − considered a minor occurrence. Which states will see Northern Lights this week? Here's what states could catch a glimpse of the aurora this week, according to a NOAA map: Northern Lights photos Contributing: USA TODAY's Melina Khan Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
70 years ago, a meteorite landed on an Alabama woman as she took a nap. Here's the strange story of Ann Hodges.
In 1954, Ann Hodges, was struck by a meteorite while taking a nap in her Alabama home. Overnight, Hodges became a celebrity as word of her strange story traveled across the country. It's the best-known case of a person being struck by a meteorite, although a man in Georgia just had a close call. Ann Hodges never intended to be famous, but in 1954 she found herself thrust into the national spotlight when her afternoon nap was interrupted by a falling meteorite. The Alabama woman has the distinction of being the first documented case of a person being struck by a meteorite. She survived with a bruised hip. In June, a man nearly joined her exclusive club when small space rocks pierced his roof in McDonough, Georgia, missing him by 14 feet, The New York Times reported. The fragments — from a meteorite that researchers say likely formed 4.56 billion years ago — dented his floor instead. In the more than 70 years since Hodges was struck, her strange tale remains a source of fascination. Mary Beth Prondzinski with the Alabama Museum of Natural History, where the meteorite is on exhibit, told Business Insider, "It's one of those local legends that not too many people know about." Here's what happened to Hodges and the meteorite. The Sylacauga meteorite, which is also called the Hodges meteorite, probably broke off the asteroid 1685 Toro. 1685 Toro, a mid-sized asteroid, has been classified by NASA JPL as a "Near Earth Asteroid" because of its orbit's proximity to Earth. Its size is similar to the island of Manhattan. An asteroid is a rocky object in space that orbits the sun. When an asteroid or a piece of one enters the Earth's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor. What remains after impact is a meteorite. On the afternoon of November 30, 1954, locals in Sylacauga, Alabama, reported a bright streak in the sky. At a time when both the threat of an atomic bomb and little green men in flying saucers invaded public fear, it was perhaps unsurprising that residents in the small Alabama town started calling 911. The Decatur Daily reported that many people thought they were witnessing a plane crash. Ann Hodges, with her husband, rented a house in the Oak Grove community. Incredibly, across the street was the Comet Drive-In Theater, which had a neon sign depicting a comet falling through the sky, the Decatur Daily reported. A part of the meteor crashed through the roof of Ann Hodges' home. Hodges, who was 34 at the time, had been home with her mother on the afternoon of November 30. The meteorite crashed through the roof of Hodges' home at 2:46 p.m., Slate Magazine reported. "Ann Hodges was taking a nap on her living room couch and she was under a blanket, which probably saved her life somewhat," Prondzinski said. "The meteorite came down through the roof in the living room and it ricocheted off a stand-up console radio that was in the room and landed on her hip." Her mother, who was in another room, ran to her daughter's assistance when she heard her scream. In the aftermath, neither Hodges nor her mother knew what had happened. "All she knew is that something had hit her," Prondzinski said. "They found the meteorite, this big rock, and they couldn't figure out how it had got there." It weighed around 8.5 pounds. Prondzinski said the meteorite is a chondrite or stony meteorite and composed of iron and nickel. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the meteorite is an estimated 4.5 billion years old. When the meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere, it broke apart. One fragment hit Hodges while another was located a few miles away. A farmer, Julius Kempis McKinney, discovered the second fragment while driving a mule-drawn wagon and later sold it for enough money to buy both a house and car, the Decatur Daily reported. Neighbors and law enforcement rushed to Ann Hodges' home. "Before you knew it, everyone in town was surrounding the house wanting to see what had happened," Prondzinski said. "In those days they didn't have Facebook, but word still traveled quickly," she added. A doctor and the police were called to the home. Prondzinski said it was Mayor Ed Howard and the police chief who discovered the hole in the ceiling where the meteorite had crashed through. The Decatur Daily reported the impact of the meteorite left a large "grapefruit"-sized bruise on Hodges' hip. "She had this incredible bruise on her hip," Prondzinski told Business Insider. "She was taken to the hospital, not because she was so severely injured that she needed to be hospitalized, but because she was very distraught by the whole incident. She was a very nervous person, and she didn't like all the notoriety or all the people around." Hodges' husband, Eugene, arrived home from work to find his house surrounded by a crowd of people. Hodges' radio may have saved her from being seriously injured. "The fact that it came through the roof, that slowed its trajectory, and the fact that it did bounce off the radio — if she had been lying under the radio, it would have broken her leg or her back. It probably wouldn't have killed her, but it would have done a lot more damage to her," Prondzinski said. The Air Force confiscated the meteorite so they could determine its origin. "The Air Force looked at it because they thought it was a flying saucer and all this other wild and crazy stuff," Prondzinski said. After it was confirmed a meteorite, the Hodgeses faced a lengthy litigation process to acquire ownership of it. Their landlord, Birdie Guy, believe the meteorite belonged to her because she owned the house. "Suing is the only way she'll ever get it," Hodges told reporters at the time. "I think God intended it for me. After all, it hit me!" The Decatur Daily News reported Guy wanted money to fix the house's roof. Litigation went on for a year, and Prondzinski said Guy settled the case for $500. The house eventually caught fire and was demolished to make way for a mobile home park. Hodges became an overnight celebrity and was even featured on a game show. "She became famous for 15 minutes. She had all these photo shoots. She was invited to go to New York City to be on Garry Moore's show '["I've Got a Secret"] where the panel had to guess what's her profession or what happened to her, why she is a notable figure," Prondzinski said. Hodges would receive fan mail from churches, children, and educators asking about the meteorite, but she never answered any of them, leaving it to her lawyer. "She was a very quiet person. She was a very private person," Prondzinski said. "She did not like having all the notoriety." Hodges decided to donate the meteorite to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. "By the time she had got the meteorite in her possession, she was so sick of the whole thing. She said, 'You can have it,'" Prondzinski said. All Hodges asked in return was for the museum to reimburse her for her attorney fees. Prondzinski said the meteorite created problems between Hodges and her husband, Eugene. Her husband wanted to make money off the meteorite but failed to secure a buyer. The two eventually divorced in 1964. In 1972, aged 52, Hodges died of kidney failure in a nursing home. Hodges is the first documented person to have been hit by a meteorite. Recently, a man in Georgia narrowly missed being hit by another. "She's the only one who's ever been hit by a meteorite and lived to tell about it. Because of that, the meteorite has been appraised at over a million dollars," Prondzinski said. In an interview with National Geographic, Florida State College astronomer Michael Reynolds said, "You have a better chance of getting hit by a tornado and a bolt of lightning and a hurricane all at the same time." There have been some near misses in the years since Hodges was hit. Most recently, on June 26, people in Southern states reported seeing a fireball fly across the sky, and pieces of a meteorite hit a house in McDonough, Georgia, with some piercing its roof, denting its flooring, and missing a resident inside. He likely heard what sounded like a gunshot. "I suspect that he heard three simultaneous things," said Scott Harris, a researcher at the University of Georgia's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences' department of geology, the university reported. "One was the collision with his roof, one was a tiny cone of a sonic boom and a third was it impacting the floor all in the same moment. "There was enough energy when it hit the floor that it pulverized part of the material down to literal dust fragments." Harris studied the rocks and concluded the meteorite could have formed 4.56 billion years ago, making it older than the Earth. It is still being studied at the university. Every day, Earth is hit with more than 100 tons of space dust and debris. According to NASA, about once a year a car-sized asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere but burns up before it can touch down. One expert told Live Science that while it's impossible to know for sure how many asteroids hit Earth each year, he estimated "about 6,100 meteorite falls per year over the entire Earth, and about 1,800 over the land." Most of these go undetected, but occasionally they'll capture the public's attention, like Hodges' meteorite. For instance, in 1992 a 26-pound meteorite landed on a red Chevy Malibu in New York, and in 2013, one exploded over Russia. There has also been evidence of a meteorite killing a man and injuring another in 1888. Meteor Crater, which is almost a mile wide, in Arizona shows the impact a large meteorite can have. Prondzinski told Business Insider that in the years since Hodges was struck, her story remains popular, and people have contacted the museum about using the story in movies, plays, and even a graphic novel. Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
21 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Dale Webster, Who Surfed Every Day for 40 Years, Dies at 76
Dale Webster, a Californian who rode waves every day for more than 40 years, garnering the world record for most consecutive days surfed and the nickname Daily Wavester, died Saturday in Rohnert Park, California. He was 76. His death was confirmed by his younger brother, Randy Webster. He did not specify a cause but said that his brother's health had declined in recent years. Webster grew up surfing in San Diego, and in 1973 he moved to the seaside community of Bodega Bay, California. It was there, during a week of 15-foot waves in September 1975, that he resolved to surf every day. 'I surfed all seven days, and then I thought, 'Let me see if I can keep this going,'' Webster told The New York Times in 2000, when at that time, he had been surfing every day for 25 years. Webster's streak eventually ended in October 2015, when he had to undergo surgery. His requirement for a daily surf session was to ride at least three waves, regardless of height, though he normally surfed about 20 waves in two hours, he told the Times. William Beal, a surfboard shaper based in Bodega Bay and a friend of Webster's, described the four-decade record as a 'mind-boggling' feat that would likely never be surpassed. 'No one will ever beat that record,' he said. At first, Webster aimed to surf every day for a year, but then he became fixated on continuing his streak, Beal said. 'He gave up everything else that you would ever want to do in life because he couldn't leave the beach,' he said. In Bodega Bay, wet suits are required year-round to brave the frigid waters, also known for their dangerous conditions and shark attacks. But Webster, who said he once crossed paths with a 20-foot great white, was undeterred by the risks. He paddled out in hurricane force winds and surfed even when he had the flu or an earache. Once, when a kidney stone left him barely able to walk, Webster entered the water, caught his three waves, and then went to the hospital, he told the Times. 'I had to crawl on the beach.' For the first decade of his streak, Webster would ask witnesses to sign a log book, verifying that they had seen him surfing, and his wife, Kaye, a frequent surfing partner, also kept a diary. But storms and fog meant the beach was sometimes empty. At other times, people refused to sign, confused by the request. Webster appeared in the 2003 surfing documentary 'Step into Liquid,' in which he said his goal was to surf until 2004, or when he reached 10,407 consecutive days. 'If I can reach that goal,' he said in the film, 'you can tell that dreams can come true.' Webster was born Nov. 25, 1948, in Alhambra, California, to John and Grace Webster. His father was a train engineer, and his mother was an accountant. He grew up surfing and later supported his quest with dozens of different menial jobs, he told the Times, quitting them when they interfered with his surf sessions. He lived in the unincorporated community of Valley Ford, less than 10 miles from the ocean, and never took inland vacations or visited his in-laws, who lived in Utah. In addition to his younger brother, Dale Webster is survived by a daughter, Margo Webster, and two grandsons. Webster's wife died of cancer in 2008, and his elder brother, Jeffrey Webster, died in 2017. In his interview with the Times, Webster reflected on all the sacrifices he had made to maintain his surfing streak, but maintained that it had been worth it. 'I think of all the things I'll have missed in life because of this,' he said. 'The only thing I'll have is the memory of riding all those waves. When I'm out there watching the seals and sea lions, and 30-inch salmon jumping, and I have all those waves to myself, it's like my own personal Disneyland.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
