Weather – Offenbach am Main – Measurements confirm extraordinary Sahara dust event – Bavaria

Offenbach (dpa) – According to measurements, the concentration of Saharan dust transported to Germany in the past few days was unusually high. This was announced by the German Weather Service (DWD) on Friday in Offenbach. The orange, reddish or brownish colored sky and spectacular sunsets therefore already indicated a particularly high concentration of desert dust in the air. Measurements by the DWD and the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences have now confirmed this.

For the investigation, a research aircraft flew from Essen/Mülheim Airport to the Zugspitze and back on Thursday. According to the DWD, a dust concentration was measured at a height of two kilometers at a measuring point above the Meteorological Observatory Hohenpeissenberg (Bavaria), which was increased by a factor of 200 compared to the normal values. According to the report, high values ​​were also noted for a short time near the ground.

According to the statement, Werner Thomas, an expert at the Meteorological Observatory, said: “The Sahara dust in the last few days was an exceptionally strong Sahara dust event, which is very rare.” According to the report, the long-term average of the concentrations near the ground at Hohenpeissenberg has fallen to six micrograms per cubic meter over the past 25 years. This time, however, 170 micrograms per cubic meter were briefly measured there, almost as much as in the previous strongest Sahara dust event in early summer 2008.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:220318-99-580783/3

–