2024-04-09 04:51:47
The unpleasant surprise on the cars of thousands of Belgians this morning: the sand from the Sahara has fallen, “in short, I can go back to the carwash!” »
Many of you took advantage of the good weather to wash your car on Saturday or Sunday morning. This morning, when you got up and if you don’t have a garage, you said to yourself that you would have been better off waiting until next weekend, right?
By Pierre Nizet Journalist in the General Editorial Team Published on 04/08/2024 at 12:00 p.m.
Like our colleague from the Liège region, you may have had a funny surprise this Monday morning when you went to your vehicle. Finally, if you don’t have a garage or carport to let him spend the night. “I went to the carwash this Sunday morning. This morning, when I saw the state of my car, I told myself that it would have been better if I waited until next weekend. I paid 15 euros for nothing.” In fact, when you go to see your car parked in the parking lot, you can see that it is very dirty!
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Many Belgians probably skipped last Friday’s news or didn’t read the weather section. It was announced that, in addition to the 24 degrees expected on Saturday in certain places in Belgium, the significant event of the weekend would be the probable arrival of a large quantity of sand from the Sahara. Sand which was expected from Saturday morning and especially in the afternoon, mainly in the west of the country. This was particularly the case in Namur and Walloon Brabant.
“A kind of mud”
In fact, the sand coming from the Sahara visibly fell in mass during the night from Sunday to Monday and, what’s more, it rained… “The rain mixed with the sand that fell on my car. In short, I had some sort of mud on the body and windows. I can go back to the carwash this week! » But it’s better not to wash it haphazardly.
To be dirty, she is! -DR
Our colleague’s car was not spared by the sand from the Sahara. -DR
Our colleague’s wife’s car suffered the same fate. -DR
We continue our journey through the parking lot and we see that our unfortunate colleague is not the only one to have experienced this misfortune. Other cars look the same. We call David Dehenauw, the man who makes the weather rain or shine at our house. Apparently, where he lives, the sand hasn’t fallen. Although in Zeebrugge, sand is everywhere! “I heard that last night, especially in the east of Belgium, the sand from the Sahara had fallen,” reacts the meteorologist. “MRI is not competent to deal with this matter but I can still give you some information on the subject. To have sand from the Sahara, there must be a lot of wind blowing in this region.” A violent southerly wind blowing towards Spain and France. “But that’s not all, the wind must be high enough in the sky, several kilometers away, so that the sand does not fall too soon.”
David Dehenauw specifies that it is not uncommon to harvest sand from the Sahara in Belgium. “It happens a few times a year. But I can tell you that the episode is over. The wind changed direction and the rain swept everything away.” On the side of the Interregional Environment Unit (Celine), Philippe Maetz measures air quality in Belgium.
A colleague’s car suffered the same fate as Dimitri’s. -DR
In the province of Luxembourg, it also fell. The proof… – DR
Sahara sand? “We sometimes detect the presence of sand among the fine particles but what falls on Belgium has no impact on air quality. Concentration is way too low here. This is in no way comparable to what can happen in Spain and especially in the Canaries. I experienced it there and I can tell you that it is impressive. We sometimes collect several hundred micrograms and this can then pose a problem in terms of air quality, especially if it falls over one or two hours.”
Published on Wednesday September 6, 2023 at 12:06 p.m.
If there is sand on your vehicle, cleaning must be done very carefully! In the extreme case, your car may have turned orange!
In the event of a sand cloud from the Sahara, certain places in the sky may be of an unusual yellowish color. But above all, many drivers will find their car dirty by sand.
Many people are therefore tempted to quickly wash their vehicle. However, it is recommended to monitor the weather forecast and wait until the cloud of sand has passed, as the Saharan dust could still impact us.
However, you will have to take care to clean your bodywork, the sand could cause irreversible damage to the paint…
Not anyhow
The temptation is obviously great to rush to automatic car washes offering roller washing. However, this should be avoided since by rubbing the grains of sand, there is a strong risk of them scratching your bodywork.
Dry clean the sand? Again, it is better to avoid! Once again, the risk of scratches is great…
So what can you do to remove this sand without damaging your bodywork? Ideally, do not hesitate to go to washing stations offering high pressure jet: this will do the job perfectly. If you have a garden hose at home, know that this alternative will also allow you to clean with better your car!
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