Dust Storm — West Central Deserts, Arizona

2016-07-20 · West Central Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Strong thunderstorms north of Phoenix generated strong gusty outflow winds over 40 mph and these winds pushed towards the southwest and overspread portions of the west central deserts during the afternoon hours on July 20th. The winds picked up significant amounts of dust and dirt and created a dust storm that moved across the Interstate 10 corridor, affecting communities such as Salome, and Quartzsite. At 1622MST a trained spotter in Salome reported that visibility dropped to less than one eighth of a mile across highway 60. At 1626MST local law enforcement reported that there were 8 non-injury accidents on Interstate 10 between Brenda and Quartzsite, between mile markers 45 and 53. The accidents were due to near zero visibility in a dust storm. The duration of the dust storm in this vicinity was 44 minutes. A Dust Storm Warning was eventually issued for the area, beginning at 1710MST.

Wider weather episode

During the afternoon hours on July 20th, strong thunderstorms developed across portions of central Arizona including southern Yavapai county, over higher terrain to the northwest of the Phoenix area. Gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph moved towards the southwest and overspread portions of La Paz county, generating areas of dense blowing dust that lowered visibilities below one quarter of a mile at times. The associated dust storm spread across portions of Interstate 10 between Brenda and Quartzsite and also affected the community of Salome. Local law enforcement reported 8 non-injury accidents on Interstate 10 between mile markers 45 and 53 due to the dust storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 643388. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.