Dust Storm
Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less. Every one the National Weather Service has filed, by year and by state, with the deadliest and costliest.
The deadliest and costliest on the map
The deadliest and costliest dust storm episodes on record.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 2,117
- Deaths
- 92
- Injuries
- 958
- Damage
- $27 million
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Every year
Deaths each year
The deadliest
Deaths from this kind of event within each episode.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Utah, July 24 to 28, 2021An active monsoon surge brought several back-to-back days of thunderstorms producing heavy rain, damaging wind gusts, and hail across the state.
- Dust Storm in Illinois, May 1, 2023Northwest winds gusting from 35-40 mph lofted dust from newly plowed farm fields resulting in near zero visibility across portions of northern Montgomery County, southern Sangamon County, and southwestern Christian County in Illinois.
- Dust Storm and Damaging Winds in Kansas, March 14, 2025A strong cold front moved east through Northwest Kansas during the afternoon. As the cold front moved into Kansas, a wall of dust formed along the front, with the blowing dust continuing for hours afterward.
- Dust Storm in Arizona, March 1, 2025A potent low pressure system moved through the Desert Southwest, generating strong winds across much of the region. Peak afternoon and early evening wind gusts upwards of 25-40 mph out of the south were observed across much of south-central AZ.
- Dust Storm in Arizona, October 29, 2013A trough of low pressure was located over central Nevada with a strong pressure gradient over Arizona. Strong southwest winds occurred ahead of the extremely dry cold front and produced areas of blowing dust.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in California, October 12 to 17, 2009A deep low pressure trough tapped into quite a bit of moisture from the remnants of Super-Typhoon Melor, bringing as much as around 2 inches of rain to the central and southern San Joaquin Valley on the 13th-14th. Much higher amounts fell in the Southern Sierra Nevada.
- Dust Storm in Arizona, December 22, 2009Winds increased in advance of a cold front and picked up considerable dust and soil from a field adjacent to Interstate 10 in Casa Grande.
- Dust Storm in Kansas, January 16, 2014Strong winds and lack of recent rainfall resulted in a widespread blowing dust event from late morning through mid-afternoon. Local areas experienced sharp reductions in visibilities near open fields.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in California, September 1 to 2, 2023An upper level storm system coming from the Eastern Pacific interacted with monsoonal moisture on September 1, 2023. The interaction of these features led to the development of heavy rain and thunderstorms, which caused several instances of flooding in the Coachella Valley.
- Dust Storm in New Mexico, February 27, 2025A back door cold front pushed through southern New Mexico the morning of February 27th.
- Flash Flooding and Dust Storm in California, August 22 to 25, 2013A strong push of monsoon moisture fueled thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin for several days, peaking on the 25th. Many storms produced flash flooding, and isolated severe weather also occurred.
- Dust Storm and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 18, 2009A complex of strong to severe thunderstorms developed over the western South Plains during the late afternoon and early evening of the 18th. A few of these storms became severe and produced locally intense wind gusts up to 67 mph.
- Dust Storm and Hail in Texas, July 3 to 4, 2017Late afternoon thunderstorms developed from Tucumcari to Clovis, NM and quickly congealed into a squall line while trekking southeast across the Texas South Plains through the evening.
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Nebraska, April 29, 2018Sunday the 29th and Monday the 30th were two of the windiest consecutive days of spring 2018 within South Central Nebraska, especially in terms of SOUTH winds.
- Dust Storm in California, October 16 to 17, 2007The third weather system of the month of October brought only light precipitation to the region on the 16th-17th, but also brought strong wind gusts to the Kern County mountains and deserts, where gusts as high as 67 mph were recorded.
- Dust Storm in Arizona, November 28, 2009A strong low pressure system in southern California produced strong south winds across southeast Arizona. The winds remained below wind advisory criteria, averaging 20 to 30 mph and gusting to near 40 mph on the higher terrain.
- Dust Storm in Nebraska, May 22, 2002High gradient winds up to 50 mph whipped blinding dust across interstate 80 just east of the Beaver Crossing interchange west of Lincoln. Visibilities, which were suddenly reduced to zero in the blowing dust, caused a 10-vehicle pileup that killed 2 people and injured 8 others.
- Dust Storm in Arizona, February 15, 2006Near zero visibility due to blowing dust, also described as a temporary blackout, contributed to two traffic pileups on a stretch of Interstate 8 west of Casa Grande.
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Texas, June 9, 2020A vigorous upper-level low pressure center moved east from southern Colorado across south central Kansas through the late afternoon on Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
- Wildfire and Dust Storm in Oklahoma, March 14 to 31, 2025An intense upper system produced a historic wildfire outbreak and synoptic windstorm across the WFO Norman Forecast Area on the 14th. As a note, the first, last and highest magnitude wind gusts are those included in this episode for a particular zone (county).
- Dust Storm in Nevada, June 10, 2013Thunderstorm winds produced a dust storm that reduced visibility to zero at times, causing a 27 vehicle pileup just west of Winnemucca, that resulted in the death of one person and injuring 37 others, 4 seriously.
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Texas, December 19, 2012A historic dust storm engulfed much of the South Plains this afternoon resulting in dust storm conditions (visibilities at or below 1/2 mile in blowing dust) at the Lubbock International Airport for the longest duration since December 16, 1977.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Arizona, July 5 to 29, 1999Three U.S. Forest Service firefighters were stunned or paralyzed for a few minutes as lightning hit the ground near them. They also suffered some burns on the feet and shoulders.
- Dust Storm and Heavy Snow in New Mexico, February 26 to 27, 2024A very strong segment of the jet stream associated with an upper level system dove down across northern and central NM February 26th and 27th.
- Dust Storm in Arkansas, April 10, 2016Strong Southwest winds developed across the Delta region of Northeast Arkansas during the late morning and afternoon hours on April 10, 2016. Loose top soil from recent spring farming caused the visibility to drop to a quarter of a mile or less at times in blowing dust.
The costliest
Damage from this kind of event within each episode, in the dollars of its year.
- Dust Storm and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 18, 2009
- Dust Storm and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 22, 2006
- Dust Storm in Nevada, June 10, 2013
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Texas, December 19, 2012
- Dust Storm and High Wind in New Mexico, March 18 to 19, 2025
- Dust Storm and Damaging Wind in Texas, July 12, 2006
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Nebraska, April 29, 2018
- Dust Storm in California, October 16 to 17, 2007
- Dust Storm in Arizona, October 29, 2013
- Dust Storm and Strong Wind in Arizona, April 28, 2016
- Dust Storm and Heavy Snow in New Mexico, February 26 to 27, 2024
- Dust Storm and High Wind in California, November 11, 2024
- Dust Storm in Arizona, March 1, 2025
- Dust Storm in Arkansas, April 10, 2016
- Dust Storm in Wisconsin, May 3, 2020
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Utah, July 24 to 28, 2021
- Wildfire and Dust Storm in California, February 11 to 12, 1999
- Dust Storm in Arizona, October 4, 2011
- Dust Storm in California, April 21 to 22, 1999
- Wildfire and Dust Storm in Kansas, December 2, 2022
- Dust Storm and High Wind in New Mexico, March 13 to 15, 2025
- Dust Storm and Hail in Arizona, July 7 to 10, 1997
- Flood and Dust Storm in California, October 24, 1998
- Dust Storm and Lightning Strike in Arizona, September 27, 2011
- Dust Storm in Colorado, April 29, 2014
By state
| State or waters | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 764 | 22 | 265 | $4.3 million |
| Texas | 274 | 9 | 36 | $11 million |
| California | 234 | 11 | 140 | $3.3 million |
| Kansas | 204 | 13 | 57 | $303,000 |
| New Mexico | 148 | 6 | 82 | $2.2 million |
| Washington | 96 | 2 | 78 | $742,000 |
| Nevada | 87 | 2 | 114 | $1.8 million |
| Colorado | 64 | 1 | 31 | $300,000 |
| Illinois | 49 | 8 | 50 | $101,000 |
| Oklahoma | 42 | 1 | 11 | $320,000 |
| Idaho | 41 | 1 | 14 | $322,000 |
| Nebraska | 36 | 4 | 25 | $840,000 |
| Oregon | 17 | 1 | 9 | $150,000 |
| North Dakota | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| Utah | 8 | 8 | 17 | $400,000 |
| South Dakota | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| Arkansas | 7 | 2 | 20 | $300,000 |
| Indiana | 6 | 0 | 1 | $50,000 |
| Puerto Rico | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Montana | 4 | 1 | 8 | |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wyoming | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delaware | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Missouri | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 0 | $300,000 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Every kind of event
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Hail
- Flash Flood
- High Wind
- Winter Storm
- Drought
- Winter Weather
- Tornado
- Heavy Snow
- Flood
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind
- Heat
- Heavy Rain
- Strong Wind
- Excessive Heat
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Lightning
- Dense Fog
- Blizzard
- Frost/Freeze
- Ice Storm
- High Surf
- Funnel Cloud
- Wildfire
- Tropical Storm
- Waterspout
- Coastal Flood
- Lake-Effect Snow
- Debris Flow
- Hurricane (Typhoon)
- Dust Storm
- Rip Current
- Storm Surge/Tide
- Marine High Wind
- Sleet
- Avalanche
- Marine Hail
- Astronomical Low Tide
- Marine Tropical Storm
- Tropical Depression
- Freezing Fog
- Lakeshore Flood
- Dust Devil
- Marine Strong Wind
- Dense Smoke
- Marine Hurricane/Typhoon
- Volcanic Ashfall
- Seiche
- Sneakerwave
- Volcanic Ash
- Tsunami
- Marine Tropical Depression
- Marine Dense Fog
- Northern Lights
- Marine Lightning
- Hurricane
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.