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The big story in the weather world for much of the last week has been the plume of dust from the Sahara Desert. This is mostly a good thing. Outside of the possibility for slightly poorer air quality, this suppresses tropical development and can produce vibrant sunrises and sunsets.
So, we’ll break up this article into two sections: 1) Saharan Dust Impacts and 2) Our Forecast.
SAHARAN DUST IMPACTS
The majority of the dust will stay to our southwest Friday evening and Saturday morning. However, the curvature of the earth could work in our favor. As the sun rises, we may still see its light bounce off the distant dust and produce a nice sunset and/or sunrise.
Throughout the day Saturday, we’ll notice more haze high up in the sky thanks to an increased amount of dust thousands of feet above us. It’s for that reason that we expect a nicer sunset Saturday.
The Saharan dust outlook for Sunday is entirely dependent on storms or cloud debris from storms to our north. There will still be a limited concentration of dust around, so it’s still possible that we see some vibrant colors in the sky in the morning or evening.
OUR FORECAST
Aside from the dust, there’s still a forecast to tell. Friday and Saturday, the wind actually works in our favor. Coming down the mountains, the wind will allow the air to warm and turn fairly dry too.
That’s why we expect things to stay fairly hot Friday and Saturday. While a stray storm cannot be ruled out Saturday, the better chance comes Sunday.
This, as a front to our north teams up with our warm and humid air. A couple storms late Saturday night and early Sunday morning may weasel their way down to our area. However, the better chance comes after about 1 or 2 p.m. Sunday.
This front likely will meander nearby throughout much of next week, as the atmosphere transitions into a holding pattern. This “omega block” results in stagnant weather patterns for days at a time. Low pressure over New England will force this front southward, keeping things breezy at times next week but keeping the daily shot for heavy rain and storms in the forecast.
This kind of pattern may very well last into the 4th of July weekend.