Dust Storm — Imperial County West, California

2021-03-15 · Imperial County West, California

Event narrative

According to California Highway Patrol (CHP), a vehicle accident occurred on Highway 85 north of North Marina Dr in Salton City around 4:25 PM PDT. A Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent responded to the incident and was assisting a passenger in one of the disabled vehicles when another vehicle struck the disabled vehicle injuring the passenger and killing the CBP agent (indirect). The driver of the vehicle that struck the disabled vehicle was uninjured. According to reports from CHP and law enforcement a severe dust storm was occurring at the time of the incident with near zero visibility. The extent of damages to the vehicles is unknown.

Wider weather episode

An abnormally strong and dry weather system dug into southern California during mid March and produced a strong westerly gradient wind. In the afternoon of the 15th wind gusts were observed up to 40-50 mph at multiple weather stations across Imperial county. With the county being dust prone, the strong winds were able to produce areas of dense blowing dust. There were a few reports around the Salton Sea of near zero visibility within blowing dust. There was also a traffic accident in the Salton City area within an area of dense blowing dust that injured one and claimed the life of an assisting CBP officer. A wind advisory and blowing dust advisory were in effect through the afternoon and a Dust Storm Warning was also issued following a dense blowing dust report.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 942229. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.