Dust Storm — Tonopah Desert, Arizona

2021-04-28 · Tonopah Desert, Arizona

Event narrative

Visibility fell to less than a quarter mile in blowing dust along Interstate-10 near exit 109 to Palo Verde road. The report was supported by a dashcam photo from the truck driver on I-10 that submitted the report. There were no reports of significant traffic disruptions and no reports of damages nor injuries.

Wider weather episode

In the afternoon of the 28th, scattered showers passed over the greater Phoenix metro area. Due to the dry sub-cloud environment, a cluster of stronger showers over the eastern metro produced a strong outflow boundary that moved west through the city with wind gusts measured around 40-45 mph, including a 46 mph gust at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The outflow also produced blowing dust on the southwest side of the city with a couple reports of visibility down to around 1 mile. Just ahead of the westward-moving outflow, a weak shower produced a downburst which generated dense blowing dust, less than a quarter mile visibility, along Interstate-10 near Buckeye Municipal Airport. A Significant Weather Advisory was issued for the outflow winds and a Dust Advisory for the blowing dust. No significant traffic interruptions, damages, or injuries were report with the blowing dust.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 954995. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.