Australia: Massive dust storm blankets western New South Wales

A massive dust storm engulfed the Central Western region of New South Wales in Australia although severe rain and thunderstorm was predicted by Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) Sunday evening for inland NSW.

A gust of 94 km/h was recorded at Parkes about 6.30 pm while a gust of 107 km/h was recorded at Dubbo about 7.45 pm, according to the bureau reports, invigorating the wild bushfires across the region. NSW mid-north coast and the regions of the northern river had reportedly received between 100mm and 180mm rainfall from 9 am to 10.30 pm on Sunday. The Southern part of the State witnessed devastating winds that morphed into dust storms resulting in the lowered measure of the rainfall subsequently.

In Victoria, rain hit the hardest in East Gippsland, with 56.6mm falling at Mount Elizabeth and 55mm at Mount Wellington. Rose Barr, a bureau meteorologist, as per the reports, had estimated active thunderstorms, particularly across southeast and central-eastern parts of [NSW], as well as parts of the south-west slopes that could pace into extremely strong wind gusts or even hailstones.

90 fires are still burning across New South Wales

However, menacing clouds of dust impacted regional centres, New South Wales 250 miles (400 kilometers) north-west of Sydney overcasting large swathes of land as an emergency warning was reportedly issued for a bushfire that was downgraded to ‘watch and act’ as per the reports on Monday. Around 90 fires are still burning across New South Wales and 28 emergency warnings had been issued in Victoria, as per the report. 

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Residents in outback towns of Nyngan, Parkes, and Dubbo were reportedly aggravated as they were left in darkness “for hours” as forecasts for rain came to naught. They took to the Social media sharing dramatic images of the storm as they expressed disappointment. “Next time they forecast a storm, I’ll know just to assume dust storm. 3mm of rain since Wednesday and two of these since Friday”, wrote a user. Several posts showing the storm hitting the region was shared by the people. Watch the reactions here.

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