North African dust is expected to affect Madeira this Tuesday

As it happened about two weeks ago, during tomorrow, Madeira will be affected by a mass of air originating in North Africa, carrying suspended particles and dust in the circulation.

The alert was issued by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which explains that Mainland Portugal and the Madeira Archipelago “are under the influence of a synoptic situation that is characterised by an anticyclone moving between Madeira and the Iberian Peninsula and another anticyclone located in Central Europe extends along the ridge to the Iberian Peninsula.

This configuration results in a northeastern circulation in the Madeira Archipelago and in the south quadrant in the Central and North regions and with no well-defined course in the southern region of mainland Portugal low levels of the atmosphere, favoring the advection and transport of the air mass formed over the deserts of North Africa, contributing to the increase of particles and dust in suspension.

The APA also stresses that this natural phenomenon affects the quality of ambient air, and it is estimated that it may contribute to an increase in concentrations of suspended particles.

From Diário Notícias