A counter-clockwise spiral of clouds likely reveals the flow of air into a zone of atmospheric low pressure in this image of the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on January 31, 2006. The heart of the “vortex” is over the Gulf of Sirte, along the central coast of Libya. To the east of the Gulf, dust is swirling in the air. Along the right edge of the image, near the center, the dust appears to have risen even higher than clouds, with a tan plume partially hiding the clouds beneath.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
