Huge dust storms stretches 1800km across Australia
Incredible footage has captured the moment a 1800km dust storm consumed parts of Australia, bringing cool relief to the desert.
Weather
Don't miss out on the headlines from Weather. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Incredible footage has captured the moment a 1800-kilometre dust storm blasted WA, consuming the state’s north and bringing cool relief to the desert.
The huge dust storm swept through WA on Sunday afternoon, fuelled by a strong trough that pushed into Northern Australia and lifted up vast amounts of desert sand.
The unusual summer pattern brought gusty southerly winds that blew through the desert and off the Kimberly coast, kicking up dust as they rolled through.
In fact, the storm was so huge it could be captured from space.
Satellite images from Japan’s Himawari weather satellite showed sand-coloured streaks of dust billowing over the state’s northeast, rolling from Central Australia through the Pilbara and Kimberley before it trailed off the state’s northwest coast and extended for hundreds of kilometres into the Indian Ocean.
Airborne particles of dust were still clearly visible above the ocean on Monday, creating a dusty red haze over the water.
The southerly winds — as well as the dust itself, which can block and reflect sunlight — brought a relatively cool summer’s day to some of Australia’s most consistently sizzling regions.
Marble Bar in the Pilbara reached a high of 36.9C on Sunday, more than five degrees cooler than its average December maximum temperature of 42.1C and its first day below 40C so far this December.
Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley similarly reached 35.1C, also by far its coolest day this month and more than four degrees below its average December maximum of 39.3C.
Serious summer heat is forecast return to the area later this week, with Marble Bar expected to reach 44C on Thursday and Fitzroy Crossing, 45C.
Originally published as Huge dust storms stretches 1800km across Australia
Millions brace for sudden weather change
Millions of Aussies are bracing for chilly winds and forecasts of showers, hail and snow in what’s been called a “shock to the system” by meteorologists.
Grim outlook of ‘hotter, wetter’ spring
Australia’s national disaster agency is bracing for hotter, wetter and windier weather as the country slides deeper into spring, with some parts of the country in much higher danger.