June 13, 2022
WATCH: Saharan dust blankets Portland
PORTLAND, Jamaica – Hazy conditions associated with the Sahara Dust dominated Jamaica on Monday and is expected to remain across the island over the next few days.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the mass of extremely dry and dusty air, known as the Saharan Air Layer, forms over the Sahara Desert and moves across the North Atlantic every three to five days from late spring to early fall, peaking in late June to mid-August. It can occupy a roughly two-mile thick layer in the atmosphere.
On Monday, a large plume of dust blanketed Jamaica. Here is what it looked like from St Margaret’s Bay, Portland in this video captured by the Jamaica Observer’s Everard Owen.