Is sand dust from the Sahara helping combat the formation of early season hurricanes?

A little-known, yet common phenomenon has again traveled across the Atlantic and may contribute to tempering the formation of early season tropical storms that could eventually spin toward the Lowcountry. A formation of dust made from the sands of the Sahara has reached the central Caribbean. The path is known as the MDR for main development region of the Atlantic and stretches from west coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands to the Caribbean Sea.

“The dust is an indication of really really dry air,” said Meteorologist Carl Barnes with the National Weather Service Charleston. The dry conditions stifle tropical storm formations which rely on heat and humidity.

Dust clouds like this tend to be common in the early summer. Notably, hurricane season reaches its peak around late summer when the dust clouds have dissipated.

The African mixture of dust from the sands could be tempering some storms from expanding their spin toward towards the East Coast, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the early season cloud is protecting South Carolina. The storms that hit the Palmetto State don’t all come from at the same place, Barnes said. Some storms can even form right off of the coastline, though they wouldn’t spend enough time over the ocean to ramp up in strength.

The dust could potentially reach the South Carolina Coast, but likely wouldn’t have major impacts, according to Barnes. Florida Public Radio reported the dust had already arrived in the Sunshine State. The sand from Africa’s largest desert will become part of the many iconic beaches of the Caribbean, according to Climate.gov

Weekend Forecast

Even though the Caribbean Sea is experiencing the ideal aridity to retard cyclone development, meteorologists are projecting a hot and humid weekend in Beaufort County. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to add one to two inches of rain through Friday and Saturday, but will taper off on Sunday.

Feel like temps may rise as high as 108 degrees and could call for a heat advisory on Saturday and Sunday

Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, many forecasters are warning of increased amount of activity and Lowcountry locals should be checking the boxes on their hurricane survival kits. Florida has pioneered a program for sales tax amnesty for retail purchased of hurricane supplies, Georgia and South Carolina have not yet adopted that option. South Carolina does have a tax amnesty period in early August to assist families in purchasing back-to-school items.