Dust Storm — Southwest Deserts, Arizona

2013-09-06 · Southwest Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Isolated thunderstorms developed across south central Arizona deserts during the late afternoon on September 6th, and due to the very hot and rather dry nature of the atmosphere, they generated very strong and gusty outflow winds. The gusty winds picked up copious amounts of dust and dirt and generated dust storm conditions which spread into the southwestern Arizona deserts during the evening hours. At 1913MST a trained weather spotter 2 miles southwest of Tacna reported dust storm conditions; visibility dropped to 1/4 mile and winds gusted to around 35 mph. A Dust Storm Warning had not been issued at the time, however there was a Blowing Dust Advisory in effect. The advisory was issued at 1817MST and continued until 2000MST. No accidents or injuries were reported due to the dense blowing dust.

Wider weather episode

Isolated thunderstorms developed across the southern Arizona deserts during the late afternoon and evening hours, and they generated strong and gusty outflow winds in excess of 45 mph. The gusty winds created dust storm conditions over portions of Yuma county, including the area around Tacna and Interstate 8. Although trained spotters in Tacna reported visibilities down to 1/4 mile in dense blowing dust, a Dust Storm Warning was not in effect. However, a Blowing Dust Advisory was issued for Yuma county at the time of the spotter report.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 471432. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.