Smoke, dust travel thousands of kilometres to collide over Florida
Canadian wildfire smoke has tracked over 3,000 km to Florida, but that has nothing on the 7,000+ km trek that Saharan dust from Africa is making to the sunny state this week.
The United States are no strangers to Canadian wildfire smoke this time of year, but Florida is about to be caught in a one-two punch of air pollution this week as the smoke and Saharan dust clash over the sunny state.
Wildfire smoke from the Prairies has spread into Eastern Canada and the United States, reaching as far as northern Florida--over 3,000 km! The smoke will continue to sit over the state this week, reducing air quality.
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Meanwhile, over 7,000 km away in Africa's Sahara Desert, dust blew high into the atmosphere, where it has since been travelling west across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Saharan dust made its way to parts of the Caribbean on Monday and will continue to trek west over the coming days, eventually making its way to Florida.
Much of the dust has and will continue to fall out of the atmosphere before reaching the state, but there will still be enough in the air to reduce air quality.
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Children, elders, and individuals with respiratory issues are more vulnerable to the lower air quality.
The dusty and smoky atmosphere will decrease any instability in the atmosphere, though, which will lower the chance for any tropical weather activity to occur.
Folks can also expect to see some unique sunrises and sunsets thanks to the dust and smoke.