TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Sahara Dust in St Maarten

Just saw some pictures on Facebook showing the massive Dust in the atmosphere. Not nice.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weat...tOLM3r5UKEc563hPVI2ew9fQrQAEZ0VII-GEwYUA

And getting worse. Good thing we're already wearing masks!

I've been there when the Sahara Dust has blown through but the pictures I saw are far worse than what I've ever seen.

Thanks for posting this. Yes, it looks nasty, but in reality there's one school of thought that indicates the presence of Sahara dust may actually reduce the likelihood of hurricane development and intensification in the tropical western Atlantic region. The dust some how inhibits deep convection within the cloud masses, so I'm all in favor of anything that helps prevent hurricanes (especially this year). The dust creates a layer of really dry air, and hurricanes, typhoons, etc. need humid, unstable air to really get rolling. So, maybe in some ways this is good news within a year filled with so much bad stuff.

Scuba,

We were there one year, I’m thinking in the late 70s or very early 80s since we did not have our girls with us, when the Sahara dust was so heavy we could actually write our initials in the layer that covered our rental car over night. That was the first time we ever noticed it and though we’ve experienced it many times over the years since then, we’ve never seen it quite that bad again. I’m guessing for us it may have had something to do with an odd time of year we might have traveled that year?

That is what it was like when the volcano on Montserrat blew. Ash everywhere and it closed PJIA. People staying with use were to fly home that day too.

It is the worst we've seen, even worse than Montserrat I think. It is beneficial for seeding the ocean and sucking the moisture from the air to deter hurricanes. This time it's really brutal and I expect we won't be out and about for the next few days. We helped plant a garden this morning. 7 AM, hot, dust in a dusty parking lot. Talk about a hot mess! Sitting in AC and gonna stay here.

Most days that you can't see Saba or the other out islands, is because of a "dusting" of Sahara Dust. I can tell when I wake up and find a beach in the corner of my eyes! You're all looking for TP, I'm stocking up on eye wash.