Dust Storm — Imperial County West, California

2022-02-15 · Imperial County West, California

Event narrative

Highway-86, west of Salton Sea, was closed in both directions between mile posts 33.7 and 67.8 due to hazardous conditions with strong winds and low visibility. A California Highway Patrol incident report also stated that there was a multi-vehicle accident along the highway, but it is unknown if this was due to the winds and dust. A few semi-trucks also rolled over. The closure began around 1510PST and lasted for more than 5 hours. It is unknown how low visibility dropped along the highway, but a webcam on the southeast side of Salton Sea dropped down to around 1/4 mile at times. No injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

An upper-level trough dragged a cold front across the area, resulting in widespread westerly winds of 40-55 mph across southeast California. The strong winds also resulted in areas of blowing dust, reducing visibilities to less than a quarter of a mile at times. The strong winds and blowing dust resulted in several road closures, creating a significant disruption to transportation.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1009490. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.