Weather Saharan dust clouds visibility over Switzerland
Saharan dust clouds visibility in Switzerland. A low-pressure system has stirred up the desert sand and is now sending it across the country.
05.03.2026, 12:54
SDA
In the west, there is already a lot of Saharan dust in the air, the weather service Meteonews noted on Platform X on Thursday afternoon. Visibility was still good in the east, but this would change in the course of the afternoon.
According to forecasts by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss), the concentration of Saharan dust in Switzerland will reach its peak on Friday.
The low-pressure system "Regina", which is located over Morocco, is responsible for the phenomenon. Strong winds swirl up large quantities of dust there, which reaches higher layers of air and is transported to Central Europe by high-altitude currents.
Saharan dust is present in Switzerland several times a year - most frequently between March and June and in October and November, as measurements taken by MeteoSwiss on the Jungfraujoch show. In total, Saharan dust is detected in the air on the Jungfraujoch between 200 and 650 hours a year.
According to MeteoSwiss, the Sahara releases between 60 and 200 million tons of dust every year. While the larger particles quickly fall to the ground again, the smaller ones can be carried thousands of kilometers and reach the whole of Europe.
