On May 7, 2019, a severe sandstorm engulfed the city of Mildura situated in the state of Victoria in northwestern Australia. The very high wall of sand and dust was accompanied by wind gusts up to 87 km/h, and turned the day into night during approximately 20 minutes.
The dust storm moved through Mildura at about 5:00pm. BOM senior forecaster Dean Stewart said the strong gust front which picked up the dust extended as far south as Ouyen and Walpeup, and had wind gusts of 87kph.
A massive dust storm has hit the northwest of Victoria. @JaneBunn explains why. pic.twitter.com/4ZMkz1NZ7V
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) May 7, 2019
Now this wall of sand and dust is insane:
Have you ever seen a dust storm? #mildura #duststorm pic.twitter.com/xZujfQO3Nd
— Kirsten Lloyd (@lloyd_kirsten) May 7, 2019
Yes a great wall of dust:
How wild is this? #Mildura has been blanketed by a dust storm which sent the town dark within minutes. #duststorm pic.twitter.com/I46z7x2UmO
— Sunraysia Daily (@sunraysiadaily) May 7, 2019
It was fuelled by strong winds in a gust front, in a weather phenomenon normally seen in summer. Yes now we are starting winter over there!
Trying to get some sowing done ? pic.twitter.com/KSsV2Tp9fT
— Todd McDonald (@toddomcdonald) May 7, 2019
According to locals, this is the strongest dust storm in the last 40 years. Lisa Guarnaccia described the conditions as cyclonic and apocalyptic: “I was pretty much dodging tumbleweeds, and the branches and the palm trees were blowing, and it was cyclonic actually and very scary indeed. Apocalyptic!“
It’s 5 o’clock and it’s pitch black in Mildura #dustorm pic.twitter.com/gu490DARzI
— Michael Moodie (@Moodie_ag) May 7, 2019
There were no reports of any serious incidents in the city due to weather conditions.
On Twitter, Michael Moodie said five minutes after first seeing the red cloud, the sky was as black as night.
Dust storm about to hit Mildura. It looks ? pic.twitter.com/u9F8W4RF9H
— Michael Moodie (@Moodie_ag) May 7, 2019
Several other people published pictures of streets completely blacked out:
Not even 5 minutes later! pic.twitter.com/M2nVhZWvK4
— Louise Hodgetts ? (@LouiBean) May 7, 2019
Dust storms are a cyclical phenomenon which occur when hot, dry wind, usually above 30km/h, picks up dust and carries it from west to east as a cold front moves through. Normally in summer time!
Impressive vision of the dust storm that moved through #Mildura airport at 5pm. Wind gusts reached 57 km/h in the storm, while #Walpeup had gusts to 87 km/h and #Hopetoun hit 85 km/h. A severe weather warning is current for the #Mallee: https://t.co/N1uhs307nn #VicWeather pic.twitter.com/5otLZEVeqG
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) May 7, 2019
But this one comes as multiple states brace for snowfall, with dual cold fronts expected to cross the country. The cold fronts will cross south-eastern Australia between today and Saturday, each bringing a burst of showers, storms, chilly wind and snow, Weatherzone meteorologists have said.
Weather chaos all around the world!
