Dust Storm — Central Deserts, Arizona

2014-07-03 · Central Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across southern Pinal county, and due to favorable environmental conditions, they generated strong outflow winds to around 50 mph. The outflow winds spread to the northwest and picked up massive amounts of dust, creating dust storm conditions. The dust storm moved into the central deserts during the late afternoon hours, and initially led to the issuance of a Blowing Dust Advisory. At 1820MST, the advisory was upgraded to a Dust Storm Warning, which remained in effect through 2026MST. Several trained weather spotters in favored dust prone areas such as Coolidge and Casa Grande reported dust storm conditions with visibilities dropping at or below one quarter of a mile.

Wider weather episode

Strong thunderstorms developed across southern Pinal county during the afternoon hours on July 3rd, and they generated strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The winds spread to the northwest and picked up massive amounts of dust, leading a major dust storm across the central deserts, including the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Visibilities dropped to near zero miles at times, and given the late afternoon and early evening time frame, severely disrupted the evening rush hour. Initially, Blowing Dust Advisories were issued, but were later upgraded to Dust Storm Warnings. No significant accidents or injuries were reported due to the dense blowing dust.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 525599. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.