Why is the sky Yellow?

Today looked like an overcast day; however, something was different. The sky was yellow tinged and continued to intensify in color throughout the day. So why was the sky yellow? Turns out it is Asian Dust. It is a seasonal phenomenon that sporadically occurs during the springtime months. According to wikipedia, the dust originates in the Mongolia deserts in northern China and Kazahstan. High speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up clouds containing the dust particles. Prevailing winds carry the clouds over China, North and South Korea, and Japan. Sometimes it even travels far enough to affect the air in the United States! Many people were wearing masks today, although that is not that uncommon and can be seen everyday. Although we were out all day, I read another blog today that advises people to stay indoors if they can when we are experiencing a dust storm. It can increase the difficulty of people who have respiratory problems and cause eye irritation. It traveled about 1,500 miles that's like San Fransisco to San Antonio!



According to the Los Angeles Times:

"As the latest sandstorm moved southeast, South Korea's national weather agency issued a yellow dust advisory for Seoul and other parts of the country.

Chun Youngsin, a researcher at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said the yellow dust was expected to hit the Korean peninsula beginning Saturday afternoon and it would be "the worst yellow dust" this year."