Image Courtesy NASA
The Saharan dust storms that forms in the Saharan Desert of Africa traverses the entire length of the Atlantic Ocean in a 5,000 mile journey from the west coast of Africa westward to the Florida Keys, carried and suspended aloft into the atmosphere by the easterly trade winds. This weather related event occurs in the summer months from June through August causing scenic sunsets and hazy skies with a brownish appearance to it over the island chain. Persons with respitory problems should avoid outdoor activities during these Saharan dust events as it can aggravate or worsen those respitory symptoms. The Saharan dust has a negative effect on tropical cyclones by limiting the amount of tropical disturbances to form convection (showers and thunderstorms) that would initiate the beginning stages and ingredients inorder to develop tropical storms and hurricanes. Saharan dust is associated with dry stable air in the middle and upper layers of the atmosphere acting as an inhibiting factor (inversion layer) in developing cumulonimbus clouds that would normally require a substantial amount of moisture in those layers of the atmosphere for them to develop into mature thunderstorms and maintain the continuous process of thunderstorm genesis inorder for a tropical cyclone to mature and strengthen. On the otherhand these Saharan dust events make-up for some stunning sunset pictures that would make anybody come back to the Florida Keys during a Saharan dust event. See link on Saharan dust montoring.http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/salmain.php?&prod=splitE&time
Image Courtesy NPS Dry Tortugas 
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