Yellow Dust

Blake and I have been hearing about a phenomenon called 'yellow dust' occurring in the spring months here in Korea. We had our first experience of this yellow dust a few days ago. The air was thick- almost looked like it was going to rain and there was a yellow haze in the air. The cars are apparently dusted with this yellow dust in the mornings and many Koreans walk around with face masks on. I've been told that it is hard on those who have allergies or asthma and I'm thinking my recent bout with laryngitis could possibly be linked to this. I looked up this 'yellow dust' phenomenon on Wikipedia to give a more educated explanation of what is occurring.

Asian Dust (also yellow dust, yellow sand, yellow wind, or China dust storms) is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon which affects much of East Asian sporadically during the springtime months. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia and northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over China, North and South Korea, and Japan, as well as parts of the Russian Far East.