A massive amount of Saharan Dust has advected across the Mediterranean into central Europe this weekend, thanks to the favorable pattern turning the jet stream into southerly directions. High dust concentrations have turned skies and snow to orange across southern and central parts of Europe, creating an apocalyptic scenery.

It has been a dynamic pattern establishing across Europe this week, with a persistent upper-level High over the Arctic region and northern Europe. But to the south, an atmospheric river is dragging storm systems from the Atlantic into the southern parts of Europe.

One of these systems has deepened across southwestern Europe this weekend and turned the jet stream into south-southwesterly directions. This means the flow comes directly from the Saharan desert and it normally raises the potential to receive Saharan Dust particles across the European continent.

This time, the result is the significant advection of Saharan Dust into the Mediterranean region and into central Europe. Including the Alps and areas further north where reports of orange snow and skies are coming from the public.
The NASA MODIS satellite image above indicates an impressive advection of Saharan Dust into the northern Mediterranean, expanding north into the Alpine region and central Europe. The dust has already been detected across central France, Swiss, southern Germany, Austria, and also northern Balkans by Saturday afternoon. It keeps pushing north and east tonight.
Saharan dust load across Europe

A massive amount of Saharan Dust has advected across the Mediterranean into central Europe this weekend, thanks to the favorable pattern turning the jet stream into southerly directions. High dust concentrations have turned skies and snow to orange across southern and central parts of Europe, creating an apocalyptic scenery.

It has been a dynamic pattern establishing across Europe this week, with a persistent upper-level High over the Arctic region and northern Europe. But to the south, an atmospheric river is dragging storm systems from the Atlantic into the southern parts of Europe.

One of these systems has deepened across southwestern Europe this weekend and turned the jet stream into south-southwesterly directions. This means the flow comes directly from the Saharan desert and it normally raises the potential to receive Saharan Dust particles across the European continent.

This time, the result is the significant advection of Saharan Dust into the Mediterranean region and into central Europe. Including the Alps and areas further north where reports of orange snow and skies are coming from the public.
saharan-dust-orange-snow-satellite-image-alps

The NASA MODIS satellite image above indicates an impressive advection of Saharan Dust into the northern Mediterranean, expanding north into the Alpine region and central Europe. The dust has already been detected across central France, Swiss, southern Germany, Austria, and also northern Balkans by Saturday afternoon. It keeps pushing north and east tonight.
Saharan dust load across Europe
Advection of Saharan dust into central Europe - SWE /MK

The Saharan Dust load will be the most intense into Saturday night, then gradually diminishing while the dust spreads further north and east on Sunday. The general weather over Europe hints at a developing progressive pattern with a continuous train of frontal systems crossing the Atlantic into the southern portions of Europe.

Thanks to the blocking pattern further north, with a classic locked-in pattern across the Arctic region, delivering much colder air mass into Scandinavia, eastern Europe, and also further west towards the North Sea and the UK.

The first wave has emerged into southwestern Europe with a surface low over France. READ FURTHER from the source above