Just went through a dust storm....images here

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 ??

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

reply to post by OzWeatherman

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Had the need to satisfy my curiosity on where Woomera was exactly, found this. Had no idea Oz that it was there , bit off topic if i know, but do you see any rocket testing going on ??

Woomera. I take it that it was named by the aborigines, is it not ironic that white man set up a testing centre for rocket launching in Woomera??



Woomera........Ancient Rocket

[edit on 29/6/2009 by scubagravy]

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

Lol, no rocket testing at the moment. The RAF is about though, At the moment they are dropping flares, and they keep ringing me because the wind is severe still.

They do other stuff here to, but mainly out in the prohibited area range. I dont know what they do out there as its allegedly "top secret". Im also not allowed to talk about anything I see here either...I could get into deep sh*t



I dont think it was named by aborigines, it was built here to be an army base for the Americans. Used to be 4000 odd people here, mostly yanks, now there's only 182, not inlcuding the military guys who are here on and off. There's 30 federal police here though, here to protect any unauthorised access into the prohibited area.

Also, there are only three aborigines in town, its not really an area where they used to live

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.


Don't you mean RAAF? Just a nitpick

[edit on 29-6-2009 by AussieNutter]

Yep, same weather system

Perth copped it on Saturday night, now its over here




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]

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.

Just got a call from Broken Hill asking me how long the dust storm was going to last. Its making some ground

Wind still not letting up

And if anyone was interested in the synoptic situation, check out this beauty...

www.bom.gov.au...

www.bom.gov.au...

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

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.


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.

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]