An atmospheric river carried a plume of Saharan dust to Western Europe, blanketing cities and ski slopes, and degrading air quality.
On March 15, 2022, a plume of Saharan dust was blown out of North Africa and across the Mediterranean into Western Europe. The dust turned skies orange, blanketed cities, impaired air quality, and stained ski slopes.
The plume was driven by an atmospheric river arising from Storm Celia, which brought strong winds, rain, and snow to the Canary Islands. Atmospheric rivers, normally associated with extreme moisture, can also carry dust.
“You can think of them as the confluence of a dust river and a water vapor river within a single storm environment,” said Bin Guan, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California, Los Angeles. “The same atmospheric dynamics that give rise to a water vapor river—specifically strong winds—can act to pick up and transport dust as the storm moves across desert areas.”
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Image via NASA Earth Observatory
