East Australian Dust Storms

[pcmattman]

Seems the dust storm that began in Canberra and moved up through Sydney is now here in southern Queensland: News Report.

You can see the pictures our leading newspaper is publishing (and that are being shown on the news) HERE.

I can only see around a hundred meters out my window, it's awesome! The dust is settling everywhere though - floors, tables, computers.

[ucosty]

I woke up to this. It was quite a sight

[Combuster]

I woke up to this. It was quite a sight

Are you on Mars?

[pcmattman]

It's horrible, dust over everything - the floors are caked with the stuff.

Visibility is increasing though, it seems to be leaving, albeit slowly (no wind at the moment).

[Brynet-Inc]

Dust storms? do Australians ever vacuum?

[gravaera]

Here in the caribbean we get "Sahara Dust" or so they call it. Dust from the Sahara supposedly carries on a certain trade wind and ends up in large quantities in one or two caribbean countries. I'm not sure how authentic that claim is though.

But that storm looks slightly scary. Do they ever get serious enough to cause any real damage?

[pcmattman]

A satellite picture of the dust:


Clear blue skies now

[Solar]

Here in the caribbean we get "Sahara Dust" or so they call it. Dust from the Sahara supposedly carries on a certain trade wind and ends up in large quantities in one or two caribbean countries. I'm not sure how authentic that claim is though.

Absolutely. Depending on weather conditions, you get the same effect here in Europe - but nowhere near that what Australia is enduring ATM.

[frank]

I always knew the Apocalypse would begin in Australia.

But on a serious note is there a known cause? Or something that could be done to help stop this in the future? I can only imagine what this is doing to people with asthma.

[pcmattman]

But on a serious note is there a known cause?

Drought out west causing the top layer of soil to be extremely loose, picked up by gale force winds which continued all the way to the coast. At least that's how I understand it.

Do they ever get serious enough to cause any real damage?

The dust is a nuisance in that it gets everywhere, but generally it doesn't cause damage directly. Some places had storms come through along with the dust, which meant lots and lots of mud (and hailstones, which could have caused damage).

For what it's worth, this is nothing new to areas outside the capitals .

The capitals also didn't get it so bad, because we could still see .

[Alboin]

For what it's worth, this is nothing new to areas outside the capitals .

Is that a real video? It's not edited is it?

If it is, that's really very remarkable.

[Steve the Pirate]

For what it's worth, this is nothing new to areas outside the capitals .

Is that a real video? It's not edited is it?

If it is, that's really very remarkable.

Totally real... The dust was really weird - it hit us in the middle of the day - I was out in the morning, and everything was normal. I got home and was on the computer for an hour, and when I went out again the sky was red... I've washed my car three times since and it's still got dirt streaked on it... Really need to use a hose but I'm not sure if it's legal at the moment! While it looks awesome though, but gets annoying...

[pcmattman]

Really need to use a hose but I'm not sure if it's legal at the moment!

It was in the "wet weekend", except everyone who actually washed their cars ended up getting hit by the second storm . At the moment it's not, even after yesterday. Water Commission ftl .