Red Dust Storm Covers Australia

In September of 2009, the cities of Sydney and Brisbane, Australia were covered in blankets of red dust. The dust rolled in the night of the 22nd and made left an orange glow the morning of the 23rd when people began to wake up, turning the whole sky red. The dust had come from the Lake Eyre basin in Queensland, which had become parched from a severe drought. The dust was picked up by strong winds and carried miles in every direction.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon led to many health issues around Australia, many people had to be hospitalized because they could not breathe, especially those with asthma. The New South Wales Department of Climate Change and Weather claimed that the particle concentration in Sydney's air was the highest on record. It also led to many flights at the Sydney airport having to be delayed and all of the inbound flights had to be diverted due to the lack of sight from the dust.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090923-australia-red-dust-video-ap.html