¡Ay, calima!

¿Ay, caramba¡! ..... ¡Calima!

Calima, haze in English and trockener Dunst in German, is a weather phenomenon whereby small particles of sand, dust, smoke from forest fires and other contaminants are borne by the wind across large distances.                                                  

Malaga [Diario Sur]

Serrania de Ronda [Paul Whitelock]

In Spain the term calima is generally used to describe sand particles from the Sahara desert which are borne by southerly winds and fall as dust on Southern Spain and the Canary Islands in particular.

Current calima weather

The weather forecasts for Spain this week have forecast significant calima, culminating in a yellow warning today, Friday.

Sand dust deposits are everywhere.

I only need to look at the car, the swimming pool, the crops in the garden and any external surface to see that the weather forecasters (AEMET) were right for once!

Inevitably, there will be lots of cleaning up to do ..... until the next calima comes along!  

[Alamy]

Effects of calima

A severe calima can not only cause a dusty mess, reduce visibility, appearing to be like fog or mist, but it can also cause respiratory problems. Many Med-dwellers opt to wear a mask if venturing outside. 

Símbolo meteorológico

[Diagram courtesy of Wikipedia]

© Diary of a Nobody

Pictures:

Alamy, Diario Sur, El Mundo, Paul Whitelock, Wikipedia

Thanks:

Paul Whitelock, RTVE, Wikipedia

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