Dust Storm — De Witt, Illinois

2024-05-21 · De Witt, Illinois

Event narrative

Blowing dust reduced visibilities to near zero at times, prompting the temporary closure of I-74 near Farmer City. No injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

Deep-layer mixing within a dry pre-frontal airmass resulted in strong southerly winds gusting 40-50mph across central Illinois on May 21st. Scattered showers and thunderstorms well ahead of the front brought higher momentum air down to the surface causing localized gusts of 55-65 mph during the evening. Due to recently plowed farm fields and dry conditions, the strong winds were able to loft dust from the fields, creating widespread reductions in visibility...with a few spots reporting near zero visibility at times. Several major highways were temporarily closed due to the dust...including I-55 near Shirley and McLean in McLean County, I-155 near Hopedale in Tazewell County, and I-74 between LeRoy and Farmer City in McLean and DeWitt counties. A number of traffic accidents occurred due to the poor visibility, including one that injured 6 people on IL-54 between Mount Pulaski and Chestnut in southern Logan County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1171556. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.