Saharan Dust in Madeira Today
Only a slight trace of Saharan dust is over Madeira today. Barely perceptible, you may notice a soft haze towards Desertas or Porto Santo. No health impact for most people. Readings come straight from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), the European satellite programme that tracks desert dust plumes across the Atlantic.
Satellite air quality · Copernicus CAMS
Slight hazeOnly a slight trace of Saharan dust is over Madeira today. Barely perceptible, you may notice a soft haze towards Desertas or Porto Santo. No health impact for most people.
- Dust now
- 0 µg/m³
- UV index
- 2
- PM10
- 20 µg/m³
- Haze (AOD)
- 0.47
peak 30 next 24 h
Low · peak 4
Good
aerosol optical depth
No protection needed for short exposure.
How to read the numbers
| Surface dust | What you'll see | Advice |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10 µg/m³ | Clean Atlantic air, Desertas sharp on the horizon | Nothing to think about |
| 10–30 µg/m³ | Soft haze far out to sea | No impact |
| 30–80 µg/m³ | Milky horizon, deep orange sunsets | Fine for walking and beaches |
| 80–200 µg/m³ | Visibly hazy, washed-out mountain views | Sensitive groups ease off strenuous hikes |
| Over 200 µg/m³ | Orange-grey sky, sharply reduced visibility | Limit outdoor exertion; check flight status |
When does calima reach Madeira?
Saharan dust travels west across the Atlantic inside the Saharan Air Layer, a warm, dry plume that usually sits between about 1,500 m and 5,500 m. Madeira lies roughly 700 km off the Moroccan coast and north of the plume's usual track, so it gets fewer episodes than the Canary Islands, but easterly and south-easterly flow, most common from June to October, pushes dust straight over the island.
Because the mountains reach 1,862 m at Pico Ruivo, dust often sits above the coast while the ridges are inside the plume. That is why a hazy day in Funchal can still mean an orange, low-visibility sunrise on Pico do Areeiro. The aerosol optical depth figure above is the best single indicator of how washed-out long-distance views will look.
Dust, UV and sunburn
Dust scatters light but does not reliably block UV. Madeira sits at 32°N with clean oceanic air, and summer UV routinely peaks at 8–10 at sea level and higher on the ridges. Treat hazy days as full-strength sun days.