'Red Wave' Dust Storm Hits Australia

[Frezzato]

Not sure how big the storm was, but still...

Australia, you so crazy.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/01/australia-dust-storm-photos/60828/


When I read Stephen King's The Mist (in Skeleton Crew) this is pretty much what I imagined the mist to look like, except not red and quite frankly, not this scary.
[img src=http://cdn.theatlanticwire.com/img/upload/2013/01/10/rendered/77d43bc9bb8437afbb164654d10edcc8_623x465.jpg]

Um, help?
[img src=http://cdn.theatlanticwire.com/img/upload/2013/01/10/rendered/ebf7f55bd58f43e92f43c72da32bdb08_623x415.jpg]

Oh okay, here's the original photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.476930895681461.99466.269003509807535&type=1

Oh come ON now, that's gotta be shopped!
[img src=http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/530508_477037885670762_1390732865_n.jpg]

 

[shrekfan246]

I don't care what any Australian says about how "safe" their country is, I'm not going to believe them. Ever.

I'm just going to stay here in Vermont, where all I have to worry about is a bunch of snow and the occasional ice storm.

 

[Keoul]

Oh yeah that
Yeah mates that happens every once in a while, Australia, now we can add dust to the list of things that want to kill you!

But in all seriousness it's nothing, just dust

 

[Nouw]

That looks beautiful. Imagine being in front of that, staring down a wave of red dust that's so tall and wide you probably couldn't see where it ends. Granted I'd like the wave to be still .

 

[Frezzato]

Oh yeah that
Yeah mates that happens every once in a while, Australia, now we can add dust to the list of things that want to kill you!

But in all seriousness it's nothing, just dust

Nobody seems to handle nature as well as Australia does. Here in Florida the news goes crazy every time there's a storm, even if it's 300 miles away. They'e always "KILLER STORMS". FYI that link I first included also mentioned there's a hurricane on its way towards the North Coast [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-09/cyclone-narelle-approaches/4457842?section=wa].

Incidentally, I heard something weird about Superstorm Sandy before it hit. My friend in NY told me that the one thing he couldn't find in stores was...toilet paper. When he told me that I was like, "Pfft, amateurs."

 

[Thaluikhain]

A few years back, another big dust storm hit Sydney and the surrounding areas. I woke up and everything has a red haze about it, which was worrying because it looked a lot like how big nearby fires looked (which is a literally awesome sight at night, but not something you want to see too often).

I remember a car that was wet before the storm. You know the desert where it's flat dry ground covered in cracks? The car looked a lot like that.

Also memorable for some guy quoted by the papers as saying he thought he'd been nuked by South Korea.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

I didn't even know this was happening until I read this thread. That's how memorable it is.

The rest of the world is like "that's a two-hundred-foot-tall wall of sand!" and Australia is like "whatever"

 

[InsanityRequiem]

I didn't even know this was happening until I read this thread. That's how memorable it is.

The rest of the world is like "that's a two-hundred-foot-tall wall of sand!" and Australia is like "whatever"

No no! It should be 'whatever'! It should be 'Oh? Well, we've had bigger.' Show your Australian superiority to the rest of us worlders.

 

[Basement Cat]

Decades ago when I was knee high to a grasshopper I saw a ground level red dust cloud coming across farm fields pushed by an oncoming thunderstorm.

I'd been through 2 hurricanes plus some near hits by tornadoes yet the sight was so...sudden and unusual my 'fight or flight' reflexes darn near kicked in.

Spoiler=I wanted to run.

 

[Dangit2019]

I'm sure that if the acts predicted in Revelations are carried out, Australia won't notice it due to it resembling casual Tuesday to them.

 

[adamsaccount]

That is frikkin sweet! Did anyone try to surf it?

 

[Scarim Coral]

I guess it's not leathal?
Either way gee, no offence but you Austrilian can't catch a break. First there is that bushfire still going on and now this.

 

[Doclector]

Holy shit. I always said australia, both due to it's climate and wildlife, was situation somewhere directly above hell, but this is fucking ridiculous.

 

[lechat]

to be fair what you have there is any middle east desert storm's tiny baby brother. it will not blind you. you can still breath and in 99% of cases you can see far enough in front of you that you can still drive to the pub (high priority in australia)
the only thing impressive about our dust storms is they are red, they are red obviously because our inner deserts have red sand due to higher iron content
also the population in any area where you are likely to see a dust storm is so low that most australians wouldn't consider the casualty rate high even if it was 100% lethal since we usually have more australian fatalities per day due to drop bears and platypuses

the only recent example i can think of where a dust storm caused havoc:

A few years back, another big dust storm hit Sydney and the surrounding areas. I woke up and everything has a red haze about it, which was worrying because it looked a lot like how big nearby fires looked (which is a literally awesome sight at night, but not something you want to see too often).

I remember a car that was wet before the storm. You know the desert where it's flat dry ground covered in cracks? The car looked a lot like that.

Also memorable for some guy quoted by the papers as saying he thought he'd been nuked by South Korea.

this happened because freak weather condition brought the usual harmless dust to a densely populated area and chaos ensued
net result? car mechanics made a bit more money by replacing clogged air filters and car washes increased their business 10 fold

the very fact that non australians make any news that isn't about platypuses is what is truly amazing

Spoiler

oh and by the way they have 10 chromosomes

 

[Zhukov]

Oh hey, it's Saturday already!

I almost didn't notice.

 

[Shocksplicer]

What, another one of these? Whereabouts? Didn't even know till right now, that's how newsworthy this is to Australians.

In actual news, and Australian Bernard Tomic has won the Sydney International Mens' Tennis! That's what matters to Australians!

 

[knight steel]

Wait I live in Australia (blue mountains) And was watching the news today but all I heard about was the fires,how come this wasn't on the news seriously mate things this big happening to my country and I first hear about it on the escapist!?!

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

)
the only thing impressive about our dust storms is they are red, they are red obviously because our inner deserts have red sand due to higher iron content

The redness is caused by iron in the sand.

The iron comes from the blood of drop-bear victims.

Huge winds form around these blood deserts where the drop bears live, when the drop bears get blown/float up there in those dust clouds they stay up there as long as they can, just waiting to swoop down and catch their next victim so that the cycle can continue.

Locals know all about the danger, but the poor tourists never stand a chance...

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

Another Australian here being informed by this thread. I remember actually witnessing one of these a couple of years ago sort of, just one morning where I woke upm looked outside and the entire horizon was this awesome red haze that cleared up on the way to work. Those photos are breath taking, but its not a newsworthy thing here for some reason. More like a watercooler topic.

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

This is happening? Huh, being a suburb dwelling Australian really doesn't inform you of these things. It's really nothing. As a few people have said, the only time where these things have caused trouble was a couple years ago when it invaded Sydney. I got School off for that day. It was good.