Dust Storm — Moses Lake Area, Washington

2020-10-13 · Moses Lake Area, Washington

Event narrative

A Grant County official reported road closures 5 miles northeast of Moses Lake. Blowing dust created near zero visibility due to strong winds. There was one fatality in a vehicle stopped on the side of the road to wait out the poor visibility. The car was subsequently rear ended by a semi-truck.

Wider weather episode

A cold front passed across eastern Washington on October 13th bringing strong, damaging winds. With the afternoon sun, the stronger winds aloft mixed down and brought strengthening gusts across central and southeastern Washington. A high wind warning and wind advisory were issued for 1400 to 2300 PDT for a majority of the region. Sustained winds reached 35 - 45 mph with gusts reaching up to 50 - 60 mph in the Columbia Basin, Palouse, and West Plains.

Across these areas, there were thousands of people without power due to fallen trees and downed power lines. Blowing dust created near zero visibility due to strong winds in the Columbia Basin, which lead to a fatality from a collision. The strong winds created moderate damage to a local school.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 923916. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.