Dust Storm — Chuckwalla Valley, California

2018-08-09 · Chuckwalla Valley, California

Event narrative

Thunderstorms with gusty outflow winds affected the far eastern portion of Riverside County during the late evening hours on August 9th, including the community of Blythe. Some of the stronger storms generated gusty outflow winds that stirred up areas of dense blowing dust resulting in dust storm conditions along Interstate 10. At 2326PST the official ASOS weather station at the Blythe Airport measured a visibility of one quarter mile in dense blowing dust. A Dust Storm warning had been issued earlier for the area but it expired at 2300PST.

Wider weather episode

Late evening thunderstorms developed over far eastern portions of Riverside County on August 9th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds reaching as high as 60 mph that stirred up significant amounts of blowing dust leading to dust storm conditions. The dense blowing dust affected areas along the lower Colorado River Valley including the community of Blythe. The official ASOS automatic weather station at the Blythe airport recorded a wind gust to 60 mph and also measured visibility down to one quarter of a mile at 2323PST; a Dust Storm Warning had been issued earlier for the area but the warning expired at 2300PST. Despite severely restricted visibility and hazardous driving conditions, no reports of accidents were received.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 769395. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.