Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features a vast wall of dust sweeping across northwestern Africa, driven by a powerful seasonal wind known as the harmattan. Why the harmattan turns intenseThe harmattan is a seasonal wind that blows from the northeast between November and April. Events like this show how geography and weather patterns can combine to amplify what might otherwise be a routine seasonal wind. Saharan dust storm on the moveForecasts indicated that the dust would not stop at the African coast. Earlier in March, another dust storm carried Saharan particles toward the Canary Islands and even into parts of Europe.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 01, 2026 22:17 UTC