The skies of southern Australia turned a hazy orange this week as a dust storm reduced visibility, prompting health warnings and creating scenes reminiscent of an apocalyptic movie, rather than a late-autumn day.
The storm was driven by powerful winds carrying dust from the drought-stricken ground of South Australia into the neighboring states of Victoria and New South Wales on Monday and Tuesday. Skies were smothered in major cities including Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather update early Monday as a very strong cold front moved in from the south and reached the mainland of southern Australia on Monday morning.
By Monday afternoon, wind gusts had reached over 78 miles per hour in parts of South Australia. Wind alerts extended across parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, warning that strong winds might lead to falling trees and branches, as well as dust and reduced visibility.
The dust storm is a result of very dry land from longer-term weather conditions across Australia. Since early 2023, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania have seen some of their lowest rainfall since 1900, the Bureau of Meteorology reported in early May.
Slow-moving high-pressure systems have led to unusually warm and dry conditions — a continuation of weather patterns seen through much of 2024, the report said.
But not everywhere is dry: Other parts of southeastern Australia were battered by relentless rounds of rain this month, and a part of New South Wales received roughly four months’ worth of rain in three days. At least four people were killed, including a man who was found in a car trapped in floodwaters.
Entire towns saw homes destroyed by floodwaters, and livestock were swept away. In Sydney, water on rail tracks affected some train lines, including services to the airport. Sydney Airport was also forced to shut down two of its three runways.
As the dust this week traveled east, air quality deteriorated. Air quality ratings of very poor to extremely poor were issued on Monday afternoon for northwestern parts of Victoria and southwestern areas of New South Wales. By Tuesday morning, the dust had reached eastern parts of New South Wales, prompting extremely poor air quality ratings there as well.
The health agency in New South Wales warned of high levels of particulate matter during the dust storms, specifically PM10 particles, which are the most common type during bush fires and dust storms, and are small enough to enter the lungs and pose serious health risks.
A spokesperson for NSW Health said in a statement on Tuesday that the risk to health was likely to be low, as conditions were expected to improve.
However, forecasters warn that the continued dry conditions will most likely lead to more of these dust storms, as soil becomes drier and more exposed to the winds.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast, rainfall is expected to remain below average through July in parts of the southwest, southeast and east.
Australia is no stranger to dust storms, though the Bureau of Meteorology said they are more common in spring because of the cold fronts that move over Australia’s southeast and interior. In September 2009, a similar combination of drought and winds clogged Sydney and other parts of the east coast with a haze so thick that flights were diverted.
Nazaneen Ghaffar is a Times reporter on the Weather team.
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