"Blood rain" possible
Saharan dust envelops large parts of the country
Saharan dust is currently settling over Austria and other countries in Central Europe. According to meteorologists, a large cloud has once again arrived in our country from the African continent with the prevailing southerly foehn. Today, Saturday, is supposed to be the peak. In Tyrol, the weather phenomenon has already been clouding visibility for days, and in Carinthia the dust is also making the Karawanken mountains disappear. Could the so-called "blood rain" also occur?
"The concentrations are currently very high, so it will all turn orange even without rain or snow," explained the Austrian Severe Weather Center (uwz) on Saturday. According to information from the experts at GeoSphere Austria, 1200 milligrams of Sahara dust were already in the air. However, at least Austria should be spared the "blood rain". It will remain dry in almost all parts of the country at the weekend, with showers only possible in East Tyrol and Carinthia on Sunday.
Dust creates a mystical atmosphere
Nevertheless, the weather phenomenon has already caused poor visibility in Carinthia and Tyrol, where the dust is creating an almost mystical atmosphere. In Styria, too, the dust is expected to create a milky white sky at times over the weekend. There was also a fair amount of Saharan dust in the air in the Austrian capital on Saturday.
There is also a storm warning in several parts of the country. Vorarlberg, Tyrol and parts of Salzburg in particular are currently affected. There is currently a red warning level. But strong winds can also be expected further east, in Pongau, Lungau and Upper Styria.
25 degree mark cracked in Lower Austria
In addition to the weather phenomenon and the storm warnings, the 25-degree mark was also broken for the first time this year in Lower Austria. This was at the Oberndorf an der Melk station in Lower Austria. "This is a March station record and also the earliest Austria-wide summer day since 2006," says uwz.
Gusts of 190 km/h in Switzerland
Our neighbors have also already felt the Sahara dust: in Switzerland, above Andermatt, squalls with top speeds of 190 kilometers per hour were measured late Friday evening, as the weather service SRF Meteo reported on Saturday.
Added to this was the yellow-reddish Saharan dust on Saturday, which clouded visibility in large parts of Switzerland. According to a meteorologist, 180,000 tons of Saharan dust hung in the air over Switzerland on Saturday according to model calculations. That was an unusually high amount.
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