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May 19, 2025 - Dust across the Mediterranean
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In mid-May 2025, a strong storm system brought severe weather across the Central Mediterranean region, carrying lashing winds, rain, flooding, and heavy dust. On May 15, the National Observatory of Athens reported wind gusts of more than 100 km/h (62 mph) across the island of Crete, with the highest reported gust reaching 137 km/h (85 mph) in Finokalia, on the north coast of Crete. Stormy weather also affected Tunisia, Sicily, and southern Italy that same day, according to Windy.com, bringing severe flooding to Kelibia, a city on the northern coast of Tunisia.
Lines of low pressure attached to Storm Ines also swept extreme amounts of dust from the Sahara Desert northward across the Mediterranean. On May 16, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of widespread dust blanketing the central Mediterranean. The dust is so thick that it obscures view of the Earth beneath. To aid in locating the land beneath the dust storm, black lines have been drawn along the coastline of Greece, including the long island of Crete, and the shoreline of northern Africa.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/16/2025
Resolutions:
1km (159.9 KB), 500m (480.7 KB), 250m (1.3 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
In mid-May 2025, a strong storm system brought severe weather across the Central Mediterranean region, carrying lashing winds, rain, flooding, and heavy dust. On May 15, the National Observatory of Athens reported wind gusts of more than 100 km/h (62 mph) across the island of Crete, with the highest reported gust reaching 137 km/h (85 mph) in Finokalia, on the north coast of Crete. Stormy weather also affected Tunisia, Sicily, and southern Italy that same day, according to Windy.com, bringing severe flooding to Kelibia, a city on the northern coast of Tunisia.
Lines of low pressure attached to Storm Ines also swept extreme amounts of dust from the Sahara Desert northward across the Mediterranean. On May 16, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of widespread dust blanketing the central Mediterranean. The dust is so thick that it obscures view of the Earth beneath. To aid in locating the land beneath the dust storm, black lines have been drawn along the coastline of Greece, including the long island of Crete, and the shoreline of northern Africa.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/16/2025
Resolutions:
1km (159.9 KB), 500m (480.7 KB), 250m (1.3 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
