Dust Storm — Kit Carson County, Colorado

2022-12-02 · Kit Carson County, Colorado

Event narrative

The public reported blowing dust reducing visibility down to about one town block, less than 0.25 mile in Stratton, CO.

Wider weather episode

In the latter half of the morning on December 2nd, strong, dry southwesterly winds began picking up dirt and dust in Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas. This led to areas of reduced visibility due to the blowing dust across Eastern Colorado, Western Kansas, and extreme Southwest Nebraska. A strong cold front entered the East Central Colorado around 11 AM and quickly moved southeast. Before this cold front entered into the Tri-State area, it was already collecting dust along its leading edge, forming a wall of dust resembling a haboob. As this cold front swept through the area, it gathered more dust and grew in severity and longevity. Many photos and videos showing a wall of dust a few hundred feet high were sent to the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Goodland, Kansas. When the wall of dust moved over an area, visibility would drop to near or less than 0.25 mile with wind gusts near 70 mile per hour. Strong northwesterly winds and 0.25-mile visibility behind the initial wall of dust would continue for an hour or longer before subsiding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1070441. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.