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Large Scale Upper-Level Precursors For Dust Storm Formation Over North Africa And Poleward Transport To The Iberian Peninsula. Part I: An Observational Analysis, J.A. G. Orza, Michael L. Kaplan, S. Dhital, S. Fiedler

Publications

The analysis of three extreme African dust outbreaks over the Iberian Peninsula (IP) shows that a double Rossby wave breaking (RWB) process in the polar jet (PJ) creates the conditions for dust storm formation over subtropical deserts in North Africa and the restructuring of upper-level air flows critical for the dust transport poleward after ablation. Two consecutive anticyclonic RWBs initiate over the IP and the adjacent Atlantic, the first commencing 10 days before dust reaches the IP and the second three to five days later. The first RWB becomes quasi-stationary over the eastern Mediterranean when the second RWB develops. In …