Dust Storm — Central Deserts, Arizona

2014-03-25 · Central Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Isolated thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across portions of northern Pinal county, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 30 mph. The gusty winds picked up significant amounts of dust and generated dust storm conditions in the area around Casa Grande. A trained weather spotter located 2 miles north of Arizola reported visibility below one quarter of a mile in dense blowing dust at 1527 MST. Winds were gusting to around 30 mph at the time of the report. The dense blowing dust led to hazardous driving conditions during the afternoon rush hour, although no accidents were reported.

Wider weather episode

Isolated thunderstorms developed across south central Arizona during the afternoon hours on March 25th. The storms generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph which spread across portions of southwest Maricopa and northern Pinal counties. Due to the very dry conditions, the gusty winds were able to pick up significant amounts of dust and dirt, and this led to localized dust storm conditions across the deserts. A Dust Storm Warning was issued for south central Arizona which included the southern part of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 506716. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.