Conference 7.286::space

70.0. "Sahara Dust Storm and Shuttle" by PYRITE::WEAVER () Fri Aug 23 1985 22:43

Associated Press Fri 23-AUG-1985 15:21                            Sahara Dust

   Forecasters Predict Sahara Desert Dust Will Reach Florida Saturday
   MIAMI (AP) - The remnants of a 1,000-mile-wide dust cloud that
stormed up out of the Sahara could reach south Florida on Saturday,
turning the sky a bit hazy and dirtying cars, forecasters said
Friday.
   ``This is not unusual, there's nothing to worry about,'' said
National Weather Service meteorologist Gil Clark.
   Satellite pictures showed the cloud over the Bahamas, centered
about 200 miles east of Florida.
   Whipped up by desert winds in Africa, red Sahara dust routinely
swirls across south Florida between June and September. It begins
as a dust storm in the Sahara and travels up to 4,000 miles to
North America.
   ``This is as big a mass as I've seen this year. It's a
monster,'' Clark said.
   A 500-mile wide dust cloak settled as far north as Fort Myers
and Palm Beach on Wednesday, but dissipated by Thursday, Clark said.
   The dust clouds deposit a thin film of red dust on cars and
other surfaces as it coats the sky with a whitish haze.
   ``You can just look at the sky and tell,'' said University of
Miami scientist Joseph Propero. ``The whole sky looks kind of
milky.''
   But the cloud is harmless.
   ``It doesn't affect humans,'' Clark said. ``There's no pollution
problem. It's just a nuisance for people with clean cars.''