Dust Storm — Riverside County Eastern Deserts, California

2017-09-08 · Riverside County Eastern Deserts, California

Event narrative

Scattered thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Riverside County, mainly areas east of Joshua Tree National Park, during the middle of the afternoon on September 8th. Some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds greater than 40 mph which moved across the lower deserts, stirring up dust and sand and generating areas of dense blowing dust. In some locations, the visibility dropped to one quarter mile or below signifying dust storm conditions. At 1435PST a trained spotter west of the Blythe airport and about 15 miles northwest of the town of Ripley reported visibility below one quarter of a mile in a dust storm on Interstate 10. A Dust Storm Warning was issued about 5 minutes after the report was received. Despite the hazardous driving conditions on Interstate 10 due to dense blowing dust, no accidents were reported.

Wider weather episode

Scattered thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Riverside County during the afternoon hours on September 8th; most of the storms formed across areas to the east of Joshua Tree National Park and west of the lower Colorado River Valley. The stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds over 40 mph which overspread the lower deserts, picking up dust and dirt and generating areas of dense blowing dust and sand. For the most part visibilities were above 1 mile, but in some locales visibilities lowered to one quarter mile or below signifying dust storm conditions. For the most part the blowing dust occurred over open desert but there was a report at 1435PST from a trained spotter who indicated that a dust storm was occurring along Interstate 10 to the west of the Blythe airport. A Dust Storm Warning was then issued for eastern Riverside County from 1440PST through 1600PST. Despite the very hazardous driving conditions on Interstate 10 due to the dust storm, no accidents were reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 714969. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.