Sahara Dust turns Crete orange

Huge amounts of Saharan dust from Africa reached Crete on Thursday, resulting in hazy skies across the island.

North Africa is just a few hundred kilometres south of Crete and it was particularly hit. Current strong southerly winds mean the dust has easily crossed the Mediterranean Sea.

Weather reports suggest more thick Saharan dust will arrive on Sunday.

By then some of it will have travelled to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

And the dust will also reach the Balkans, most of the Adriatic sea and southern Italy.

The dust in the atmosphere also leads to orange sunset and sunrise pictures.

This mass of dusty and very dry air forms over the Sahara Desert from late spring into early fall is known as the Saharan air layer (SAL).

Plumes of dust typically move off the African coast every three to five days during this time.

The SAL is usually located 5,000 to 20,000 feet above Earth’s surface and travels due to strong winds.

*Photo credit: Stavros Markopoulos/BAV Media