Atmospheric Saharan dust over Caribbean skies

This photo -- taken at local noon -- shows a mostly clear sky that has been heavily washed out by atmospheric Saharan dust. Starting on Thursday, July 25th, the eastern half of the Caribbean basin has been blanketed by a thick layer of Saharan dust blown off from western Africa. This particular event brought heavy haze and caused the Air Quality Index to jump to 81 which is rated as poor. The PM2.5 reading (for fine particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) at the time of the photo was 24 micrograms per cubic meter. Photos from the GOES-16 satellite show a dust plume covering a vast region over the western Atlantic and eastern Caribbean. Events like this occur regularly in my area over a 6-month period from May to October, but in recent years have been increasing in both frequency and intensity.

Smartphone camera on Motorola G-Pure.

Minimal cropping to 3,600 x 2,700 from the original at 4,160 x 3,120. No other post-processing.