Dust Storm — Southwest Maricopa County, Arizona

2014-07-03 · Southwest Maricopa County, Arizona

Event narrative

Thunderstorms developed across southern Pinal county during the afternoon hours on July 3rd, and due to favorable atmospheric conditions, they were able to generate strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. These gusty winds spread to the west and northwest and moved into southwest Maricopa county, generating dust storm conditions as they moved across the desert. Initially, a Blowing Dust Advisory was issued for southwest Maricopa county, however at 1820MST it was upgraded to a Dust Storm Warning. The warning ran was in effect through 2100MST. At 1841MST, a trained weather spotter located 2 miles southwest of Gila Bend reported a dust storm with visibilities dropping below one quarter of a mile. No accidents or injuries were reported in Gila Bend due to the dust storm.

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 525751. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.