Saharan dust to return to the province of Alicante this week

The blood rain covered the area in a coat of red dust just a few days ago

Another Saharan dust cloud looks set to visit the province of Alicante this week just a short time after a similar event left an inconvenient coat of red sand on the Costa Blanca, according to the Climatology Laboratory from the University of Alicante.

Just a few days ago, on 6th February, dust from the Sahara Desert covered cars, streets and balconies across the province, including Torrevieja, Elche and Elda. If you haven’t had chance to wash your car since the last lot of dust, don’t bother this week!

The red dust, also known as blood rain, is caused by a mass of warm humid air that rises through a low-pressure sector. The phenomenon will be repeated this week to the west of the Iberian Peninsula and southward circulation will bring the dust to Alicante once again.

A representative from the Climatology Laboratory has said that the recent episode of blood rain in the province was the severest since June 2018.

Incidents of red dust reported in Spain have been steadily increasing since 1990 due to climate change creating more frequent wind currents, originating in the north of Africa and reaching the south of Europe; in other words, it looks as though those living in Spain will have to be prepared to wash their cars and clean their terraces more and more often!

Image: Proyecto Mastral (Twitter)