Dust Storm — Greater Phoenix Area, Arizona

2014-07-13 · Greater Phoenix Area, Arizona

Event narrative

Thunderstorms developed across the central deserts during the late evening hours, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. Despite locally heavy rains earlier in the evening, the winds were still able to pick up significant amounts of dust and create dust storm conditions which affected the southeast portions of the greater Phoenix area. At 2145MST, a trained spotter located 4 miles east of Sun Lakes reported a dust storm, with visibility down to just one tenth of a mile. Additionally, he estimated wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph. A second trained spotter 4 miles west of Seville reported a dust storm at approximately 2200MST. Due to the late evening time frame, few people were likely driving and a such no accidents or injuries were reported due to the dust storm. A Dust Storm Warning was not issued for this event, rather a Blowing Dust Advisory was in effect from 2144MST until 2303MST.

Wider weather episode

Strong thunderstorms developed across the central deserts during the late evening hours on July 13th, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. Despite heavy rains across the area earlier in the evening, the winds were still able to pick up dust and generate dust storm conditions which affected portions of the greater Phoenix area, mainly the southeastern communities including Sun Lakes and Seville. Strong winds moved into the northern portion of the greater Phoenix area and flipped a full sized trampoline. No accidents of injuries were reported with this dust storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 526002. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.