Excessive dust. Southern Ontario.

Damn if I knew where to put this topic so here it is. The last few week there's been a lot of dust everywhere. Can't keep the cars clean. Have to dust the house damn near every other day. Is that just in this area or are others noticing this? If so, what's the hell is going on? Or is this just a stupid question?

Originally posted by intrepid
Or is this just a stupid question?

Can I answer you honestly?

I don't much about the Great White North, but down here we have so much pollen right now it's crazy.

Where specifically in SO? At least narrow it down?


Im in sauga and its been pretty clear.

I am in Ottawa and things look fairly normal here i guess.
My explanation for this is when the snow melts quickly from warm weather we get lots and lots of salt dust.The streets are white and not the regular pavement colour.
Add some wind and you get more dust.
Could be the case.
Thats my 2 cents.

Originally posted by InSpiteOf
Where specifically in SO? At least narrow it down?


Im in sauga and its been pretty clear.

I'm about 45 minutes west of Pearson.

Also wanted to mention I drove up to blue mountain (collingwood) along the back roads (threw orangeville) in total about 2 hr drive and it wasn't dusty in the least. And most of that roadway is surrounded by fields.

reply to post by intrepid


Hmm, I dont know what to tell you. Its pretty clear here and like i said, all the way up to Collingwood. Maybe it has something to do with the Airport?

I'm guessing it's the dry cold lately, coupled with winds whipping soil of bare fields.

We've not had much in the way of precipitation the past week and the snow is pretty much disappeared.

Could be like others said, salting on the roads, wind driven and tracking into your home, then the furnace would blow it around. Try changing or vacuuming your furnace filter. It accumulates in there and just keeps recycling all the dust.

Or is there any construction or blasting going on nearby?

im in ajax, nothing goin on out here...
havent noticed the dust just an ever present stench of burning, welcome to Durham.

OOOOPS! Sorry buddy.
That would be my obsessive spring cleaning.
I suppose the North wind blew it all down to ya!

Well seeing how over the last 2 or 3 weeks all the snow has melted and it started to rain I'm going to guess that's what did it.

We havent had rain in months and had dust trapped in the snow for just as long. Also all the car oil and emissions that gets washed away with the rain most of the time has been sticking to the snow and its months of build up.We also had piles of black snow in all the parking lots from the plows. All the buildings and trees have been filthy from the lack of rain too this last month.

So the rain washed it down into the street and the warm air dried out and left a layer of months of dust the street cleaners haven't gotten to yet ?


Some cites now mix in sand and grit with the salt too so that cant help 4 or more months without street cleaners.