A huge amount of sand from it has covered its sky since Friday (29.03.2024), dramatically reducing visibility and giving a yellowish hue in daylight to much of the country. “The arrival of sand from Sahara leads to a very clear reduction in sunshine and visibility, there is also an increase in concentrations of fine particles,” points out Switzerland’s MeteorSwiss weather service in a message to X. As the sand gathers under 3000 meters, air quality has deteriorated particularly, from the banks of Lake Geneva to the rest of the country. Aircheck, the application launched by cantons to provide real-time data on air quality in Switzerland, says air pollution is high in a radius from the southwest to the northeast of the country. Der Karfreitag und auch der heutige Samstag zeigte sich von der turbolenten und staubigen Seite. Wir ziehen im ein kurzes Zwischenfazit. Fotos. Meteorldungen/ App — MeteorSchweiz (@meteoschweiz) This dust reached about 180,000 tons, according to the calculation models used, meteorologist Roman Broley of SRF Meteo told the public radio. Already on Friday, a strong southern wind had carried sand from Sahara from northern Africa to Switzerland. Sahara is the largest source of mineral dust, releasing from 60 to 200 million tonnes per year and while larger particles fall quickly into the ground, smaller ones can be transported thousands of kilometers and reach across Europe. As it settles down, this sand gives an orange hue to the snow.
Switzerland covered by African powder from the Sahara
—
in No charges