Dust Storm — Imperial County Except the Lower Colorado River Valley, California

2014-08-21 · Imperial County Except the Lower Colorado River Valley, California

Event narrative

A line of strong thunderstorms developed across south central Imperial county during the early afternoon hours on August 21st, and the storms affected the communities of Imperial and El Centro. Initially, the storms produced strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph; the gusty winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and sand and produced dust storm conditions. According to local law enforcement, at 1300PST visibility dropped to approximately zero miles in El Centro due to a dust storm. Shortly thereafter, heavy rains followed and eliminated the dust storm threat. No Dust Storm Warnings or Blowing Dust Advisories were issued for the area.

Wider weather episode

A line of severe thunderstorms developed across south central Imperial county during the early afternoon hours on August 21st, and the storms affected the communities of Imperial and El Centro. The storms initially produced strong and gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph, and the winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and sand, leading to dust storm conditions in portions of El Centro. No accidents or injuries were reported due to the blowing dust, and no Dust Storm Warnings were issued. Heavy thunderstorm rains soon followed and ended the dust storm threat.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 531786. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.