The difference in the synoptic situation between years with a large amount of dust and years with relatively small amount, in the Sahara, was examined in the period 1979-1992. The comparison was made separately for each season. For every month the dustiest and the non-dustiest year were chosen and the average of the three months in the season of these years was examined. The examination was made for the atmospheric variables: wind flow, wind velocity, geopotential height and temperature, at the 700 hPa level. The data used were the daily aerosol index from the TOMS satellite born instrument and the daily NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data of the variables mentioned above between the years 1979-1992.

 It was found that there is a significant difference in the atmospheric variables between the dusty and the non-dusty years with opposite trends in the Sahara and to the area north and west of it. In the spring and the summer seasons there is significant increase of the cyclonic flow in the dusty years relative to the non-dusty ones in western Europe and western North Africa . Accordingly, there is a strong cooling in this area, while in the central Sahara and the central Mediterranean a significant relative warming. In the autumn and especially in the winter, there is a significant increase of the anticyclonic flow and the temperature in the dusty years in the central Mediterranean and the central Sahara.