Dust Storm — Central Deserts, Arizona

2014-07-08 · Central Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Thunderstorms developed across portions of Pinal county during the evening hours on July 8th, and they generated strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The winds created dust storm conditions across the central deserts, and led to the issuance of a Dust Storm Warning from 2008MST through 2123MST. At 1950MST, a trained weather spotter in Arizona City reported visibilities below 50 feet in dense blowing dust, and shortly thereafter, another trained spotter 1 mile west of Casa Grande reported visibility between 10 and 50 feet in a dust storm. Fortunately, no injuries or accidents were reported due to the dust storm.

Wider weather episode

Strong thunderstorms developed across portions of Pinal county during the evening hours on July 8th, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The gusty winds picked up significant amounts of dust and this led to dust storm conditions in the central deserts. The sharply reduced visibilities affected communities such as Coolidge, Casa Grande and Arizona City as well as the Interstate 8 and 10 corridors. A Dust Storm Warning was issued for the area starting at 2008MST and running through 2123MST.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 525891. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.