# St Barts Forums > Storm Tracker >  >  Saharan Air Layer

## BBT

One of the ways to know if you will have clear air in SBH is to look at the magnitude of the Saharan air layer before you come down. 2 weeks ago it was pretty heavy here and the visibility is not the best today all the islands are crystal clear. Last few nights you can see car lights on the nearby islands. Especially on Statia. Now as you can see on the map it's much better.

----------


## katva

Very interesting.  When we were on Santorini a few years ago, our last day was extremely hazy, windy, and very low visibility.  We were told it happens when the winds kick up in Africa, and blows sand over to the Greek Islands---it was sort of surreal!  But I didn't realize it could affect the islands way across the Atlantic like that!

----------


## stbartshopper

We were in Santorini three weeks ago and had a very hot spell. We were told it was air blowing up from the Sahara.

----------


## T3

> One of the ways to know if you will have clear air in SBH is to look at the magnitude of the Saharan air layer before you come down. 2 weeks ago it was pretty heavy here and the visibility is not the best today all the islands are crystal clear. Last few nights you can see car lights on the nearby islands. Especially on Statia. Now as you can see on the map it's much better.



... better for visibility now but keep in mind that the Saharan Air Layer inhibits tropical storm development and modulates the Caribbean rainy season ... 





> Very interesting.  When we were on Santorini a few years ago, our last day was extremely hazy, windy, and very low visibility.  We were told it happens when the winds kick up in Africa, and blows sand over to the Greek Islands---it was sort of surreal!  But I didn't realize it could affect the islands way across the Atlantic like that!



... Saharan dust gets delivered to the Caribbean regularly - the worse the Saharan dust storms, the more dust reaches the islands ... Saharan dust, which contains chemicals and microorganisms, has been cited as contributing to Caribbean reef decline and linked to respiratory problems and allergies ... in the late 1980's desert locusts hitched a ride on the winds and reached the Caribbean ...





> We were in Santorini three weeks ago and had a very hot spell. We were told it was air blowing up from the Sahara.



The 2 Santorini mentions brings to mind this description of the winds from Africa hitting a slightly more southern island (from Kazantzakis' Zorba the Greek)

_That immense thirsting, dark-blue sea extended right to the shores of Africa. A very hot south wind often blew, the Livas, which comes from the distant burning sands. In the morning the sea gave off a scent like that of a water melon; at the noon it was covered with haze..in the evening it sighed and was the colour of rose, of the aubergine, of wine, a deep blue. 

..._ and Joni's Carey from her time on Crete: _




_

----------


## BBT

Many of the micro organisms originate from camels.

----------

