Sydney Sky Turns Orange Courtesy of Rare Weather Phenomenon
By Max Aldred For Daily Mail Australia
Sydney’s skies have been tinted orange following an enormous dust storm in South Australia.
Destructive winds whipped up dust storms over SA on Monday. Strong westerlies then swept up more topsoil overnight and a wind stream carried the dust and sand over Victoria to reach eastern NSW by Tuesday morning.
The topsoil was vulnerable to being swept up following a lengthy spell of dry weather over much of SA with many places in the south experiencing record-breaking low rainfall in recent months.
The ‘dust front’ was perceptible on satellite images on Monday over SA and western Victoria.
The cloud of dust had stretched an estimated 600km by 3pm yesterday, covering parts of eastern SA, northwest Victoria and southwest NSW.
By Tuesday morning it could be seen as a brown mass hanging over the Tasman Sea.
The dust thinned considerably over the journey but remained thick enough to treat Sydneysiders to a rare orange glow over the city.
The weather event is rare, with the last major dust storm to reach Sydney in 2009 turning the sky a deep orange colour for days and dumping thousands of tonnes of dirt into Sydney Harbour.
Sydney residents woke up to a orange in the sky haze over the city on Tuesday with the dust gradually dissipating from 11am
The light-brown mass of soil could be seen hanging over the Tasman Sea off the NSW coast on satellite images on Tuesday
The last major dust storm to hit the city was in 2009 when thousands of tonnes of dirt was dumped into Sydney Harbour (pictured: Randwick on Tuesday)
Weatherzone’s Anthony Sharwood said the dust storm did not come out of the blue.
‘Take the driest 15-month spell in a century-and-a-half of records. Add the strongest cold front of the year to date with winds gusting up to 80km/h,’ he wrote.
‘And presto, a massive South Australian dust storm a few days out from winter.’
Experts said a powerful cold front, one of the strongest of the year, was to blame.
Strong winds were recorded at speeds of up to 126km/h in parts SA on Monday, leaving many households and businesses without power.
High tides and heavy rainfalls also lashed the south of the state, damaging jetties and piers.
Over the border, about 3500 properties north of Bendigo lost power as winds of up to 70km/h battered Victoria.
The vagrant dust cloud heavily impacted visibility at airports between SA and the Tasman Sea.
The dust storm painted SA skies orange on Monday as gusts wreaked havoc across the state’s east
Westerly winds picked up dust and moved it over Victoria to NSW
‘Observations from Canberra Airport reported haze overnight, with visibility reduced to around 5-6 km for more than one hour as the dust blew over the ACT,’ Weatherzone said.
‘Similar visibility reductions were also reported in other areas of the Illawarra and South Coast regions of NSW.
‘Sydney Airport’s aviation forecast, which is used to help safely plan and operate flights, also warned of blowing dust on Tuesday morning.’
The Bureau of Meteorology said there would be ‘morning dust’ on Tuesday.
Authorities warned the air quality in many parts of Sydney and Illawarra region remained ‘very poor’ at 10am on Tuesday.
Air Quality NSW urged residents across Sydney and Wollongong to stay indoors, close their windows and doors, and avoid physical activities outside.
But it also added there would be further winds to lash the NSW coast later in the day.
A severe weather warning is in place for damaging winds in the Illawarra and parts of the Mid North Coast, Hunter region, South Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands.
The dust behind the hazy start has moved out to sea over the Tasman (pictured Sydney on Tuesday)
SA homeowners have been left to clean up the mess caused by the huge storm
The warning is also in place for the Snowy Mountains, Northern Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains districts.
The dust is expected to continue to move over the Tasman and clear from the coastal regions.
Rain is also expected to briefly return to flood-battered areas of NSW’s east.
It is possible showers will develop again later in the week in the regions.
Wind conditions will ease overnight as general conditions begin to calm.
Original source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14751927/Sydney-sky-orange-weather-dust.html
