Bologna, 19 June 2024 – Looking up at sky today the citizens ofEmilia Romagna they will have been amazed to find, instead of the usual blue, a yellowish colorAlmost ocher. It seems there is Sahara sand scattered in the sky, a meteorological phenomenon It’s already happened recently, but it always leaves you dismayed.
The dust arrived from the Sahara desert which ‘yellowed’ the sky over Italy (source Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service – CAMS)
He explains it to us Pierluigi Randipresident of Ampro (Association of professional meteorologists): “This is a high concentration of desert dust that comes in Italy from the Sahara. It is therefore not correct to define it sand, which is too heavy and immediately falls to the ground. The wind actually carries these particles lighter than they can travel great distancesthey fly over the Mediterranean and they go even further Alps. In fact, they will also arrive in the next few days Germany. This phenomenon occurs when a depression occurs over Spain and a tropical high pressure occurs between the Mediterranean and the Balkans. These particles subsequently fall through rain or rain dry deposition. They are slowly released to the ground to settle and accumulate.”
A desert dust which therefore travels hundreds of kilometers and which colors yellow the sky. “It is especially frequent in spring – explains Randi -, this year we have already had it 2-3 intense episodes. Thursday 20 June we will have the peak, while on Saturday the dust will disappear with the southern winds which will clean up the sky. It will happen a change in circulation with the currents coming from Spain and from Western Mediterranean. In the short term, this phenomenon will not recur because it will then reveal itself a whirlwind of cold air from France which, between Sunday and next Tuesday, will bring showers and a drop in temperatures”.
The summit of Monte Cimone in the Saharan version (photo from the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences)
The effects of dust from the Sahara they are double. “These particles behave like 10 pm and therefore they get worse the quality of the air, even if not at the levels of pollution caused by traffic – concludes Randi -. On the other side, they shield solar radiation allowing temperatures to be contained which in recent days could reach up to 36 degrees but instead stopped at 34″.
