March of the Harmattan – NASA Science

In early spring 2026, a dry, dust-laden wind known as a harmattan swept across northwest Africa. Cold temperatures, strong winds and blowing dust prompted authorities to issue an alert in several parts of Morocco due to low visibility and difficult conditions.

Satellites tracked the wall of dust during the day of March 30 as it moved southwest out of the Sahara Desert and toward the Atlantic Ocean. The image on the left, captured by NASA’s Terra satellite, shows the dust around 10:00 a.m. Universal Time (11:00 a.m. local time in Morocco). The NOAA-21 satellite captured the correct image about four hours later.

Meteosat-12, a satellite operated by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), captured another view of the dust storm. The geostationary weather satellite showed the movement of the dust as it got closer to the Canary Islands.

According to the Spanish National Meteorological Agency (AEMET), harmattan winds blow from the northeast between November and April, often producing dust storms as the winds lift dust particles from the Sahara. During the March 30 event, AEMET noted that conditions were ripe for a harmattan surge, which occurs when winds become stronger near the ground with the passage of a cold front. On this day, winds converged perpendicular to the High Atlas mountain range before heading southwest.

Forecasts predicted that Saharan dust would eventually engulf the Canary Islands, triggering what islanders call calima. The dust episode is expected to deteriorate air quality and visibility on the islands until April 1. Another storm in early March also sent dust towards the Canaries, along with another plume that was widely dispersed across Europe.

Researchers using NASA data have previously reported that the most intense Saharan dust storms occur in spring, when dust is typically kicked up from the sand seas, or ergs, of central North Africa and areas along the Mediterranean coast. During the warmer months, another peak occurs in the central Sahara.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using MODIS and VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Kathryn Hansen.

March 30, 2026: Terra MODIS

March 30, 2026: NOAA-21 VIIRS

• AEMET Divulga via Accessed March 31, 2026.
• CIRA Satellite Library (March 30, 2026) Daily loop from: Meteosat-12. Accessed March 31, 2026.
• Fiedler, S. et al. (2015) The importance of Harmattan surges for the emission of dust aerosols from North Africa. Geophysical research letters42 (21), 9495-9504.
• HESPRESS (March 30, 2026) Morocco issues orange alert for cold weather, strong winds and dust storms. Accessed March 31, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (March 12, 2026) Dust epidemic reaches Europe. Accessed March 31, 2026.
• Saleh, SA et al. (2025) A preliminary assessment of the spatial and temporal patterns of sand and dust storms over the Sahara. African Scientist28 (e02729).