Respective meteorological agencies in Barbados, Trinidad, and St Lucia have sounded the first advisories on Tuesday (October 26), as a concentrated plume of Saharan dust returns to sections of the Caribbean.

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS), in its morning weather forecast, urged citizens who would be sensitive to sudden changes in air quality to take the necessary precautions.

For its part, the Barbados Meteorological Service indicated that the moderate Saharan dust layer would negatively impact visibility across marine areas of the island. The lowered visibility would also be felt on land, however, to a lesser extent.

The St Lucia Meteorological Service also advised persons with respiratory ailments and dust allergies to continue to be vigilant.

Satellite imagery tracking the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) shows the dust plume straddling over much of the Eastern Caribbean—stretching as far west to sections of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.

So far, the looming dust cloud does not pose a direct threat to Jamaica, a situation that could change over the next 24 hours.

In its 5:00 am forecast, the Jamaica Meteorological Service indicated that a high-pressure ridge is the most dominant feature over the island at this time.

The above-average 2021 North Atlantic Hurricane Season has seen a lull in activity since October 6, as the basin neared three weeks without another named storm emerging.

That has changed in the past several hours, as sleuths at the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) have began monitoring a non-tropical low-pressure system 400 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

The system, which already produces storm-force winds, is forecast to move north-northeastward today, the NHC advised, adding there is a brief chance of it acquiring some limited subtropical characteristics before it merges with another frontal system.

“The extratropical low is then expected to meander off the mid-Atlantic and northeast US coasts tonight and Wednesday, bringing rain and wind impacts to portions of those areas. After that time, the low is expected to move eastward away from the US coast, and could again acquire some subtropical characteristics while it moves eastward or southeastward over the warmer waters of the central Atlantic,” the NHC said.

Only ‘Wanda’ remains from the 2021 list of storm names, while the NHC places further development chances at a ‘low’ 20 per cent and ‘medium’ 50 per cent over the next two to five days respectively.