The Jamaica Meteorological Service says hazy conditions will rule over much of the island as a plume of Saharan dust blankets the central Caribbean on Monday (June 6).

In its 5:00 am bulletin, the Met Service also noted the presence of a high-pressure ridge and low-level jet stream over Jamaica, with the latter bringing windy conditions for the next couple of days.

The island’s two major cities, Kingston and Montego Bay are in for a scorching day as maximum temperatures are expected to climb as high as 34 and 37 degrees Celcius respectively.

Further afield, two tropical waves straddle the southeast and southwest Caribbean Basin, while Tropical Storm Alex roared to life as the first named cyclone of the 2022 Hurricane Season—with its centre located 165 kilometres north-northwest of Bermuda in the open Atlantic Ocean as at 8:00 am AST on June 6.

Satellite imagery tracking the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) has observed the dust’s influence over the Eastern Caribbean, excluding Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Dutch islands north of Venezuela, southern Haiti and much of the Central Caribbean.

See more in the Jamaica Met Office’s town/city forecast:

The Met Service is also reminding fisherfolk and marine interests that a small craft warning remains in effect for inshore areas of the south coast, and offshore areas of the north and south coasts due to strong winds and rough seas.

For more, see three-day outlook:

Tuesday: Partly cloudy afternoon across northwestern parishes, otherwise hazy day. Windy especially across southern parishes.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy morning. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms across sections of western and north-central parishes. Windy across southern parishes.
Thursday: Afternoon showers and isolated thunderstorms across western parishes and hilly areas elsewhere, otherwise partly cloudy. Windy along the south coast.