Phoenix Dust Storm Caught on RadarPlus
UPDATE: News5 has impressive aerial video of the dust storm.
ORIGINAL POST 5 PM MST: A dust storm is threatening Phoenix at 5 PM Mountain Time and I've caught it on AccuWeather.com RadarPlus. Fox News showed live webcam footage of the dust storm just before 8 PM Eastern. I looked at the visible satellite animation on AccuWeather.com which showed dust to the north, above the NWS Dust Storm Warnings issued south and east of the city. I then confirmed by viewing AccuWeather.com RadarPlus, which I show in the video below. The dust on satellite was clearly affecting the north part of the city. I also looked at the ADOT Phoenix webcams and identified the dust storm on them as well. While I was cutting the video below, the NWS issued warnings for Phoenix itself, confirming what I saw.
HI-RES IMAGES SHOWING THE DUST STORM:
- RadarPlus Satellite, Advisories (5:00 Local) Shows Dust Approaching Phoenix
- RadarPlus Satellite, Advisories, (5:20 Local) Shows Dust in Phoenix
- RadarPlus Radar Loop, Advisories (5:45 Local) Shows Outflow Boundary Moving West
- AccuWeather.com Arizona Visible Satellite Animation
ADOT WEBCAMS SHOWING THE DUST STORM:
CAMERA #1 (DUSTSTORM ENTERS RIGHT TO LEFT) (ANIMATE):
CAMERA #2 (DUSTSTORM ENTERS LEFT TO RIGHT) (ANIMATE):
CAMERA #3 (DUSTSTORM ALMOST COVERS TOP IN 1ST IMAGE, THEN... DUST!):
The NWS warns that during a dust storm... "MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE CAUTION AND SLOW DOWN...AS OBJECTS ON AND NEAR ROADWAYS WILL BE SEEN ONLY AT CLOSE RANGE. IF YOU ENCOUNTER BLOWING DUST ON THE ROADWAY OR SEE IT APPROACHING...PULL OFF THE ROADWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE AND PARK. TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND KEEP YOUR FOOT OFF THE BRAKE PEDAL."
I'm guessing the brake pedal is in case you get hit from behind, but why should they turn off their lights? What do I know, I've never been west of Wichita. You tell me.
UPDATE: Blog reader Mike from New Jersey says "This reminded me of a discovery show I was watching about the huge amounts of fog there are in England. The reason you turn your lights off is to prevent people from thinking that they are following you on the road and running into you." Blog reader David adds: "The same goes for the foot off the brake so that someone coming up from behind won't think that the source of light is someone actually in the roadway and try to drive behind the parked car and slam in to them."
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