Very hazy sunset brought about by suspended desert dust during Sirocco gale as Spring began unusually early over the Maltese Islands as indirect effect of El Nino. As usual, this Sirocco was caused by a trough diving well southwards from the Western Mediterranean towards the Sahara Desert as indicated by the third thumbnail of the 500mb chart. The first thumbnail show the sirocco surface wind gale earlier in the day while the second thumbnail is a visible satellite image clearly showing the rising sand plume over the region.