A powerful storm system brought clouds of Sahara dust to parts of
southern Europe on Wednesday, leading to dramatic orange skies, very
poor air quality and a layer of accumulating mud in Spain, Portugal and
France. The Spanish state meteorology agency AEMET named the storm system Celia.
In addition, Celia also brought powerful coastal winds and flooding
rains, leading to severe weather warnings across the country. In fact,
people reported dust and mud as far north as London, and forecasts say
that the dust clouds will reach northern U.K. and Germany in the coming
days.
Hazardous conditions
Likewise, air quality reached the worst possible level in Spain on
Wednesday. Parts of Spain were under warnings for extremely unfavorable
air conditions according to the Spanish national air quality index.
Generally, this category indicates a density of particulates in the air
that is hazardous for all age ranges and health groups, but especially
dangerous for the elderly or people with asthma. In this case,
meteorologists expect the dust to bring a serious risk of poor air
quality as far north as London as Celia continues to develop through the
week. Additionally, officials recommend that at-risk people remain
indoors, and that everyone wear face masks to reduce the number of dust
particulates they inhale.
Sahara dust turns skies orange
Consequently, the thick dust turned skies red in Spain and Portugal on Wednesday, much like a scene from Mars.
Indeed, people across the region took to social media to share their
photos and videos. The dust was thick enough, for example, to accumulate
several millimeters on some cars and buildings, blanketing the entire
landscape in an orange hue.
In like manner, thick dust clouds filtered out other colors of
sunlight, darkening the sky. Incredibly, even ski slopes in the
mountains turned orange as the snow collected the Saharan dust. Also,
the Sierra Nevada ski resort in Granada, Spain, closed because of
Celia’s strong winds. Locals shared dramatic video of the orange snow
covering the ski slopes. Likewise, mountain towns in the Swiss Alps also
reported the red skies and orange-tinted snow on the mountain peaks.
Incoming Sahara dust storm
So how did this dust storm occur? First, the dust originated from
Northern Africa on Tuesday, when Celia rolled in from the Atlantic.
Consequently, strong southerly winds whipped up a dust storm in Algeria
and Morocco and carried the particles across the Mediterranean Sea. This
Calima
windstorm is, actually, common in the spring for Spain and Portugal,
but the amount of dust and wind brought by Storm Celia is extraordinary
and very intense, according to AEMET. Presently, because the situation
is still actively unfolding, it’s still unclear if the dust storm
brought by Storm Celia is the strongest ever measured.
Blood rain in Spain
In addition, in the southern half of Spain, flooding rains from Celia
overlapped with the dust storm. Mud rained from the sky in some towns,
plastering streets and cars. People reported mud globs falling from the
sky as far north as Paris on Wednesday morning. As an illustration, some
residents in Southern Spain called the mud a blood rain.
What’s next for Storm Celia?
For now, the most intense dust clouds will remain over Spain, France
and southern Europe through Wednesday and into Thursday. However, the
dust should slowly dissipate through Thursday and Friday as Celia
weakens over Spain. Then, forecasters expect the dusty skies and
degraded air quality to reach regions further north, but it will be less
intense than the conditions reported along the Mediterranean coast.
Later, most of the dust will be carried in the mid-levels of the
atmosphere, above 1 1/4 miles (2 km) high, according to the U.K. Met Office.
Ultimately, as with many of the strongest Saharan dust storms, the
smallest particles of dust could remain in the atmosphere for up to
three weeks and circle the entire globe
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