Dust Storm — Greater Phoenix Area, Arizona

2016-07-29 · Greater Phoenix Area, Arizona

Event narrative

Thunderstorms developed across the central and eastern mountains during the afternoon hours on July 29th and they moved into the south central deserts during the evening hours. The stronger storms generated strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph which, as they moved across the desert floor, picked up significant amounts of dust and created dust storm conditions. Although the most significant blowing dust occurred to the southeast of central Phoenix, dust storm conditions were observed to the northwest of central Phoenix. At 1941MST at trained weather spotter 2 miles southwest of Beardsley reported visibility less than one eighth of a mile in a dust storm. A Dust Storm Warning was issued for the greater Phoenix area beginning at 1943MST and it was cancelled at 2041MST. Despite the cancellation of the warning, dust storm conditions persisted past 2100MST; a trained spotter 1 mile east of the town of Wittmann reported visibility down to 600 feet in a dust storm at 2105MST.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed across the central and eastern Arizona mountains during the afternoon hours on July 29th, and they proceeded to move southwest and into the south-central deserts during the evening hours. The stronger storms produced very strong and gusty outflow winds, measured at times to be well in excess of 50 mph. The winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and dirt which led to an evening dust storm; the most significant blowing dust occurred over the central deserts however dust storm conditions were also observed over portions of the greater Phoenix area. Numerous trained weather spotters in locations such as Casa Grande, Ak-Chin and Maricopa reported visibilities to near zero visibility in dense blowing dust. Although the dense blowing dust created a serious driving hazard, there were no serious accidents or injuries reported as a result of the dust storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 645900. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.