Sahara dust storm blows into Southern Oklahoma
Those noticing a haze in the air and reduced visibility this weekend were actually seeing dust from the Sahara Desert. Alex Zwink, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman said the dust will probably stick around for a day or two, and could bring about some beautiful sunsets.
“Essentially, what we have is a very dry, dusty airmass that formed over the Sahara Desert, that has brought all this dust over the Atlantic,” Zwink said. “Normally it kind of peters out over the ocean, but this one in particular was fairly dense. It brought a little bit of a punch with it all the way over to the United States, and it’s been able to persist all the way here.”
Zwink said the dust storm can be seen from Central Texas all the way up into Southern Oklahoma but it should be out of the area by early this week.
Other than the dust, Zwink said the weather for the rest of the week looks typical for this time of year.
“It’s pretty much summertime in Oklahoma,” Zwink said. “You have chance of about 15 to 20% for thunderstorms throughout the week, and temperatures will slowly be creeping up to the upper 90s by the end of the week.”
Zwink said today’s high should be in the upper 80s to low 90s, and the temperature could get as high as 95 or 96 degrees by next weekend.
