Sahara dust reaches Bavaria and causes “blood rain”

Sahara dust is currently coloring the sky over Munich yellow – and is said to bring “blood rain” with it. According to experts, however, the dramatic weather conditions are nothing unusual at this time.

Southwest winds carry dust from the Sahara to Lower and Upper Bavaria – and give the sky a yellowish tinge. A strong reddish-brown discoloration of the sky is to be expected, especially on Wednesday afternoon, as a meteorologist from the German Weather Service (DWD) said.

But already on Tuesday, photos showed the special lighting mood in Munich, among other places: Bad weather with Sahara dust was gathering over the city center, which colored the sky yellow.

The “blood rain” is expected on Wednesday: The desert sand will be washed out by light precipitation. The falling water turns brownish. The sand then becomes visible on cars or garden furniture, for example.

View from the Bavarian state parliament: At noon, bad weather came over the city center, which brought the dust with it. (Source: Sven Hoppe/dpa)

Low pressure areas over North Africa are the origin

“This is nothing unusual at this time,” said the DWD weather expert. Responsible are low-pressure areas over North Africa, which whirl up the desert sand and carry it around the world in higher air layers. These winds reach Germany mainly in spring and summer.

According to the meteorologist, there is currently a lot of dust in the air due to the persistent drought. A little rain is expected to fall on the edge of the Alps on Wednesday. In the other regions of Bavaria, the sun shines through the loosening cloud cover.

North-easterly winds will then carry the desert sand out of Germany again from Thursday. It will remain sunny, with temperatures of up to 18 degrees. Only on Friday there will be some precipitation again in the north. Otherwise, according to the DWD, the sun will continue to lead to temperatures of up to 16 degrees. The sunny and dry weather is expected to continue in the days that follow.

–