Thought I would share this with the ATS community.

Ive just experienced my first dust storm here in Woomera. We've had a low pressure system sitting off the South Australian coast, producing severe winds and thunderstorms. Being in Woomera, which is situated in the desert about 2 hours drive from the nearest coastline, we dont get much rain, meaning the red dirt here is pretty loose most of the time. When it rains it gets muddy.

No more than a couple of hours ago I noticed raised dust on the horizon, with the wind gusting to 44 knots (sustained at 33kt at that time). We had (and still have) a severe weather warning out for gale force winds in the area surrounding the met office.

Anyway, combined the dry earth with the winds, and we gota duststorm. So here's some images I thought some people might enjoy, and any questions, just fire away

Now it also looks like its going to rain...











Ive also got more coming so stay tuned to this thread

Thanks for the pictures! What a beautiful area! Dust storms are amazing.
I look forward to more!

[edit on 29-6-2009 by calmbutwary]

Those are beutiful, professional and IMPRESSIVE pictures! wow..dust storms are rare arnt they?

I can't wait to see it when it closes in on you.

A shot looking out a window while the dust is blowing up against your house might look pretty neat.

I have to say, I envy you right now. A) that setting looks beautiful (I might have to move to Australia) B) I like stormy weather

Thanks for the comments so far.

Ziggy, dust storms arent that frequent. They mainly happen in areas where there is loose soil, and the landscape is flat. Strong winds are also needed. The area Im in gets a few of these a year, and they get worse than this one (its only a moderate dust storm, visibility down to 1500m)

Here's some more pics

Brilliant thanks for posting this - I find rare weather phenomena fascinating. I've always wanted to visit the outback as well, however I've never been further west than the Blue Mountains. I'm sure it's nice and quiet out that way.

I love the way the picture appear as if its closing in, pic by pic, still relativly clear round your dwelling though.

Anymore pics Oz ??

Originally posted by scubagravy
I love the way the picture appear as if its closing in, pic by pic, still relativly clear round your dwelling though.

Anymore pics Oz ??

About five more to come

The dust storm has past now, and its been raining a tad. However the wind is still as severe as it was before

Here's a few of the last ones plus a wind reading from the MILOS automatic weather station we have here

I had to run inside after these, and believe me, its closer than it looks

I've got a feeling that's just hitting Adelaide now, raining and winday as all hell up here in the hills.

Nice shots though, reminds me of where I used to live.

The RAF is about though,

Don't you mean RAAF? Just a nitpick

[edit on 29-6-2009 by AussieNutter]

Originally posted by AussieNutter
I've got a feeling that's just hitting Adelaide now, raining and winday as all hell up here in the hills.

Yep, same weather system

Perth copped it on Saturday night, now its over here

The RAF is about though
Don't you mean RAAF? Just a nitpick

Well actualy its the RAF and the RAAF, the poms are over here as well. There a few Americans to, but I dont know what they are up to



[edit on 29/6/2009 by OzWeatherman]

Originally posted by AussieNutter
I've got a feeling that's just hitting Adelaide now, raining and winday as all hell up here in the hills.

Nice shots though, reminds me of where I used to live.

The RAF is about though,

Don't you mean RAAF? Just a nitpick

[edit on 29-6-2009 by AussieNutter]

Yes, I agree ... good pics.

AussieNutter ... I'm here at Golden Grove and the wild, windy and wet weather has been here all morning. But not complaining because as we all know, we'll take all the rain we can get !

Wow really neat pictures. Fits in with the show that i watch last night on either History or Discovery channel about the dust bowls back in the day and how those storms blew all the over farmed topsoil from the plains clear to New York and onto boats a 100 miles out at sea. The storms where so intense that it would turn the sky black for days and leave feet of silty sand piled up all over the place. What a mess they could be.

Weather Ninja!, is it heading east to sydney where i am ? apparently were are getting some thunder on thursday and friday, cant wait

Originally posted by scubagravy
Weather Ninja!, is it heading east to sydney where i am ? apparently were are getting some thunder on thursday and friday, cant wait

Yep, its a pretty strong system. I think Sydneys going to be affected more by the trough, (dotted blue line on the synop) rather than the cold front. Its sure to pick up some moisture on the Blue Mountains and probably going to bring some unsettled weather to the coast. Probably going to be a good snow fall at the ski fields too

Originally posted by OzWeatherman

The RAF is about though
Don't you mean RAAF? Just a nitpick

Well actualy its the RAF and the RAAF, the poms are over here as well. There a few Americans to, but I dont know what they are up to
[edit on 29/6/2009 by OzWeatherman]

Ok, would be interesting to see what they are up to. I know that the RAAF is up there on some rocket engine tests and some UAV stuff as well (i think). The Army newspaper article didn't mention anything about international co-operation though.

Originally posted by afoolbyanyothername
AussieNutter ... I'm here at Golden Grove and the wild, windy and wet weather has been here all morning. But not complaining because as we all know, we'll take all the rain we can get !

Wow didn't realise there were quite a few Adeladians on here, nice. Yeah the rain is good, hopefully some of the blockies in the Riverland are getting some, I know that they've missed out on a heap of the rains that we've been getting here.

Originally posted by OzWeatherman
The RAF is about though

RAAF surely? ....oh, that'll learn me notto read the whole thread before replying :/

Really neat pictures there. Was that your weatherstation I saw?

Impressive!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at times I'm sure that our sunsets in New Zealand are effected by dust storms from the 'West Island'....certainly after Pinatubo we had brilliant sunsets, but I'm sure that some dust storms have 'set these off' as well.

[edit on 30-6-2009 by aorAki]