” Actually, 2 DIBS were formed,” said Mike Fromm, a meteorologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. “The reality that the dust river fed two separate DIBS makes this notable” as it is more typical to see a single storm emerge from an influx of dust.
The very first storm began on March 15, 2022, over north main Europe and spread from Poland, Czechia, and Austria south to the eastern Mediterranean. This was likewise unusual, Fromm stated, as there is “usually a direct connection of a DIBS to its dry dust source, closer to the desert itself.”.
On March 16, a second storm followed the classic pattern, spinning up better to the source of the dust in Africa. The big, prevalent dust cloud continued moving north over Europe towards Scandinavia and the Artic Ocean. It then moved east over northern Russia before taking an anticyclonic turn and curving back down into Eastern Europe and the Black Sea area on March 20.
In the above image, obtained by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite on March 17, 2022, the cloud tops show a dimpled appearance. “We still dont understand why that occurs,” Fromm stated, “however it is strange to DIBS.”.
Analysis of the mid-March storms by Colin Seftor, an atmospheric scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, revealed that much of the dust was flowing at the top of the cloud deck. “This means there suffices dust at the cloud tops to offer the generally white clouds a dusty tinge, ergo the infused part of the name,” Fromm stated. “In the DIBS, the dust and storm cloud are one.”.
March 17, 2022.
The map above programs a model of the dust motion on March 17 based upon the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5).
The high, dirty cloud layers produced by DIBS have been observed to take a trip around the world, Fromm said, and can often be mistaken for volcanic ash that might affect flight courses. The dust that gets drawn up into them tends to stick around after the clouds vaporize, Fromm added.
In late March, yet another large dust storm started making its method north carrying Saharan dust over the Mediterranean and Europe. The newest storm appears to be similarly large, it might not be as long-lasting, Seftor said.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, utilizing MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview, and GEOS-5 data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC.
March 17, 2022. (Click image for broad, high-resolution view.).
Long-lasting, icy cirrus clouds filled with Saharan dust covered many parts of the continent in March.
In March 2022, a number of big storms brought clouds of Saharan dust to Europe. One of them likewise brought long-lasting, high-altitude cirrus clouds instilled with dust, which resulted in extensive cloud cover– from Iberia to the Arctic– for more than a week. It was an unusual kind of storm that scientists have only just recently concerned understand. Called a dust-infused baroclinic storm (DIBS), its hallmarks are icy clouds permeated with dust.
In mid-March, a climatic river of Saharan dust was entrained by a DIBS and lifted into the troposphere, reaching altitudes up to 10 kilometers (6 miles). The dust functioned as nucleation particles for ice, leading to the formation of icy high-altitude, dust-infused cirrus clouds. They continued for nearly a week and covered big parts of Europe and Asia.
In March 2022, a number of big storms brought clouds of Saharan dust to Europe. One of them likewise brought long-lasting, high-altitude cirrus clouds instilled with dust, which led to comprehensive cloud cover– from Iberia to the Arctic– for more than a week. Analysis of the mid-March storms by Colin Seftor, an atmospheric researcher at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, showed that much of the dust was distributing at the top of the cloud deck. “This suggests there is sufficient dust at the cloud tops to give the typically white clouds a dusty tint, ergo the infused part of the name,” Fromm said. In late March, yet another big dust storm began making its way north bring Saharan dust over the Mediterranean and Europe.
By Sara E. Pratt, NASA Earth Observatory
March 31, 2022