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

2017-09-07 · Imperial County Except the Lower Colorado River Valley, California

Event narrative

Very strong thunderstorms developed over higher terrain areas to the south of Imperial County during the middle of the afternoon, and they sent gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph northward into Imperial County. The strong wind stirred up dust, sand and dirt and created areas of dense blowing dust along with localized dust storm conditions. At 1520PST a trained weather spotter in the town of Seeley reported that visibility had lowered to zero miles in a dust storm. The strong winds and dust also affected portions of the Interstate corridor, sharply reducing visibility and creating very hazardous driving conditions. A Dust Storm Warning was issued and in effect from about 1530PST through 1700PST. Fortunately no accidents or injuries were reported as a result of the dust storm.

Wider weather episode

Scattered monsoon thunderstorms developed across the northern Baja California mountains as well as far northwest Mexico, during the late afternoon hours on September 7th and they generated very strong and gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The strong winds spread to the north and into portions of Imperial County, moving across the Interstate 8 corridor and into the Imperial Valley. The strong wind stirred up significant amounts of dust, dirt and sand which led to patchy dust storm conditions. Visibility lowered to zero miles in a dust storm in the town of Seeley at about 1520PST. A Dust Storm Warning was issued due to the dense blowing dust; fortunately no accidents or injuries were reported as a result of the very hazardous driving conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 714754. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.