Haze in the Basin Caused by Sahara Desert Dust, Not West Texas Dust

If you have been noticing some hazy skies here lately, you are correct, but its not West Texas dust it is Sahara Desert dust.

According to CBS 7, the haze from dust has made quite a trip to get here coming all the way from Africa.

This is a common occurrence that happens every summer, but this year it has hit our area instead of hitting the east coast or Mexico.

“The Saharan dust is picked up by storm systems over the Saharan Desert in Africa that gets carried in the mid to upper atmosphere on easterly trade winds across the Atlantic into the Caribbean and then starts to recurve north towards North America from the Caribbean,” said Devin Chehak, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Most of the dust will stay in the upper atmosphere but there are times that some of the dust will fall into the lower atmosphere and cause problems for some people.

If you are bothered by dust, West Texas E.N.T. Institute has some tips to not have as much problem with it.

“Wear some kind of protection, like eyeglasses, a mask if you are going to be walking outside, and once you get home rinse your nose out with a Netty pot,” said Dr. Raphael Wojo with the West Texas E.N.T. Institute.

Even though it causes respiratory issues it also creates some very colorful sunsets.

The Saharan dust is expected to move to the east in the coming days but it may not be the last round of dust that we have to deal with this summer.

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