Hurricanes Fell Silent as African Dust Clouded Skies in the U.S.
- Summer outbreaks of dusty, dry air sap the storms of vitality
- How 100 million tons of the stuff crosses Atlantic every year
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What can give you itchy eyes, replenish the rain forest and bring a hurricane to its knees? Dry and dusty African air.
The coffee-colored atmospheric swirl, captured by satellites last week, blew across the ocean all the way to Houston. Originating in the Sahara Desert, the air dominated weather across the Atlantic and beyond. It is, quite simply, kryptonite for hurricanes.