The Caribbean was cloaked in a massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year which blanketed the region. It was heading towards the United States and is expected to reach Florida.
Dust was covering Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other parts of the region on Tuesday, according to CBS Miami’s NEXT Weather radar. The plume was forecast to move northwest and reach Florida mid-week, then hit other states including Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas and Louisiana by Friday.
The cloud extended 2,000 miles from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and 750 miles from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago.
Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather, said: “It was very impressive.”
The hazy skies unleashed sneezes, coughs and watery eyes across the Caribbean, with local forecasters warning that those with allergies, asthma and other conditions should remain indoors or wear face masks if outdoors.
The dust concentration was the highest amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In June 2020, a record-breaking cloud of Sahara dust smothered the Caribbean. The size and concentration of the plume hadn’t been seen in half a century, prompting forecasters to nickname it the “Godzilla dust cloud.”
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