Caribbean Haze

[msbee]

There is a thick haze covering the Northern Caribbean. I do not know how far it extends, but it is quite thick here on St. Maarten. The visibility is terrible.
According to the SAL image, it is not Saharan dust affecting us.



But the entire island looks like this:





Tortola reported the same thick haze on Stormcarib.com
Does anyone know what is causing this?

There has been some discussion locally that the haze is due to the volcano eruption in Chile, but I doubt this and the local Met Office has not issued any advisory to that effect.
Any of you geniuses out there have any idea?
thanks
Barbara

[JonathanBelles]

Does it smell like smoke, or what does it smell like?

[msbee]

It doesn't really smell like anything.
It is just thick haze,but my eyes have been burining.
The report from Tortola was that even within one mile the haze was unusually thick.
http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/bvi.shtml

We also thought maybe the Montserrat volcano was acting up but that does not seem to be the case either.
I don't remember ever seeing such thick haze here in the Caribbean.

[Weathermaster]

Yes, Here in Puerto Rico we have very hazy skies since yesterday. I think is Saharan dust, although maps do not reflect it. Is also very hot, which is characteristic in this type of hazy skies.

This could give us a hint that some times conditions are not so favorable for cyclone formation since Sal maybe in the atmosphere and satellites do not detect it.

[JonathanBelles]

Is it yellowish or orangish? Sounds similar to the smoke/dust mix from the times of Andrea. Are there any fires in the area?

[HUC]

It's saharian haze...i saw that every year,sometimes more dense,and the months of april,mai, are common months for this haze to reach the carribean.
In fact,it's time when the Azores Hp translate to a position more favorable to the trade winds to shift toward the soutth -east sector ,and then the saharian dust is able to travel to the islands and sometimes the Gom.
The problem is : why this dust does not appears on the satellite analysis of Cims???

[msbee]

that's what confused me.
I know we get the Saharan dust this time of year, but then when I looked at the satellite picture, it showed nothing, so I thought maybe it was some other phenomenon.

[cycloneye]

Its very thick here and it was hot today with 96 Heat Index in San Juan.I dont have information that the Soufriere made an eruption today.

[NDG]

I would think that maybe some Saharan dust or other pollutants in the lower atmosphere is being kept from mixing up into the atmosphere because of a strong cap between H70-H80 in the atmosphere.

[stjohnian]

We've got it in St. John too. It's so bad that we can hardly see St. Thomas from the Cruz Bay side. This isn't the first time it has happened in the past 6 months... and each time I look at satellite images for sahara dust [nothing apparent] and we check for Monserrat or other volcanic activity [nothing]. There are a lot of respiratory problems associated with it. The air is heavy and irritating to the eyes. If we eliminate ash and sahara dust and smoke what else could it be? There were some similar days last year when we had friends down island say they had toxic dust warnings. US Govt trying to grow vegetables in the desert [Africa] leading to high level toxic clouds. I'll look for the links to what I read. I'm confused why others aren't more concerned about this.

[JonathanBelles]

im puzzled....I wouldnt say its Saharan because thats usually goldish.
Not smoke that we know of.
No volcanic ash.

I think NDG may be right. Are there any stagnant air advisories out down there? Is it happening more in the valleys than the hill tops? Is it happening out to sea or between islands?

[littlevince]

Probably a mix, some dust, some smoke and water vapor.
There are many fires in venezuela, although small ones.

Red dots are fires


WV

[JonathanBelles]

well, that would explain most of it. I wish the visible satellites were better to pick up on that smoke.

[msbee]

as far as I know, the met offices in the islands..the smaller islands at least..never issue stagnant air advisories.
I certainly have never heard of any here at least. and the haze is everywhere. it's up on the hills, it's low in the valley, it's between the islands.
You can't see a thing on the sea. The sea and the horizon look as one.
As Stjohnian says, the air is heavy and irritating to the eyes.
I have never seen it this bad.

little vince, I don't know how to interpret those satellite pictures.
what am I seeing?

[JonathanBelles]

The first image is the important one. The red dots are fires. The sandy color is low smoke. Your haze is smoke.

[msbee]

and that smoke is from fires in Venezuela?

[JonathanBelles]

yes.

[msbee]

well, that has to be a first.
Are the fires from the burn and slash type of farming they do, do you think?

[JonathanBelles]

my try at illustration:

[JonathanBelles]

well, that has to be a first.
Are the fires from the burn and slash type of farming they do, do you think?

I havent a clue.