Saharan Dust in the Sky

In this long exposure film image from top of La Palma in the Canary Islands, lights from the seashore towns are scattered in the sky due to the arrival of Saharan dust. As noted by the photographer: “The dust from the desert was quite severe at that time and its effect was to prevent the normal temperature drop during the night so that the usual cloud layer closer to sea level did not form, allowing street lights at sea level to be reflected by the airborne dust.”