Dust Storm Out of Western Africa

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Monday, 12 March 2007, 08:10 CDT Download full size image

Saharan dust was still blowing off the west coast of Africa and over the Cape Verde Islands when the MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on March 1, 2007. This image shows a veil of dust over the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape Verde Islands.

Dust has been blowing off the Sahara Desert for several days, as this February 28th image shows. The dust seems thicker in the March 1st image, particularly between the mainland and the islands.

According to the Earth Observatory, Saharan dust storms are regularly whipped out over the Atlantic by strong easterly winds near the Earth’s equator. Depending on the time of year, the dust may be blown across the ocean toward either South America (February-April) or Central and North America (June to October).

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