Dust Storm — Central Deserts, Arizona

2017-08-04 · Central Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Isolated thunderstorms developed over the central deserts during the evening hours on August 4th, and some of them produced gusty outflow winds reaching speeds of at least 40 mph. The strong winds picked up dust and dirt and created dense blowing dust, sufficient to briefly cause a dust storm. According to a trained weather spotter located 11 miles southeast of the Ak-Chin village, at 2137MST dense blowing dust briefly lowered visibility below one quarter of a mile. A Dust Storm Warning was not issued however due to the limited areal extent of the dense blowing dust.

Wider weather episode

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms developed across portions of south-central Arizona on August 4th, and they brought typical monsoon weather hazards to the area such as damaging outflow winds and dense blowing dust. For the most part, the day was not especially active convectively speaking, but gusty winds did blow down several trees near Deer Valley during the mid morning, and during the evening hours, strong winds in the Ak-Chin area caused localized dust storm conditions and also damaged a trailer, knocking it off of its foundation.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 712985. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.