Brace for an ashy, dusty weekend

Barbadians were yesterday put on high alert that they should be on the lookout for ashfall over the island of Barbados, as satellite imagery showed a huge dense ash plume heading our way, following further eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent.

Sabu Best, Director of Meteorological Services, indicated that as of 3:00 p.m. yesterday, there was another significant eruption of the volcano and after that, subsequent further eruptions, following the one which took place around 8:41 a.m.

“These eruptions expelled huge amounts of ash and debris into the atmosphere, not like this morning, much more significant and as a result, we are actually detecting huge ash plumes, volcanic plume that is heading towards Barbados. It’s estimated arrival time is roughly around 6:00 p.m. today, but it could be before. So we are going to see ash clouds come over and ash fall across the island,” Best indicated in an update yesterday evening.

He meanwhile noted that the duration could be extensive, especially if the volcano continues to erupt and as such, those with respiratory issues should stay indoors and ensure that they have any necessary medications to hand. Barbadians are also being urged to look out for their pets and livestock and to secure them adequately.

It was earlier in the day during a press conference that Best noted that a weak plume of ash and dust passed around 11:30 a.m. around the mid-levels of the atmosphere in Barbados, at just around 18,000 to 25,000 feet. That was gone by mid-afternoon, however, as it drifted towards the east.

“That plume, or ash if you like, was part of the major eruption that occurred this morning. It took about three to three and a half hours to actually traverse from St. Vincent to Barbados. It would have been difficult to actually see it from the ground, because there’s an extensive amount of dust haze that is still in the atmosphere and on top of that, there’s a canopy of high-level clouds which we call cirrus (clouds). It makes the sky look kind of whitish or milky. The last reports we got, there is actually even more cirrus that’s coming in from the southwest, so to actually see any kind of smoke or ash traversing aloft is going to be rather difficult or near impossible to see at this point in time. That dust haze is expected to continue through the weekend and the cirrus for the most part,” Sabu said during the mid-day press conference.

Whilst giving a brief forecast for the weekend at that time, he suggested that rainfall levels would likely be minimal for the next few days and it could get a little cloudy as well.

However, Barbadians now have to stay tuned for any further updates regarding the evolving situation, even as they do their best to remain safe, given the present conditions. (RSM)