Dust storm roils through Texas South Plains

Walt Nett / AP

Traffic moves through a dust storm which cast a brown pall over downtown Lubbock, Texas on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. A strong cold front bringing north and west winds gusting to 60 mph churned up the dust storm that roiled through the Texas South Plains.

AP reports:

LUBBOCK, Texas — Winds gusting at more than 70 mph churned up a dust storm that roiled through the Texas South Plains during the Monday afternoon commute.

Dust kicked up by westerly breezes ahead of a strong cold front restricted visibility in Lubbock to about 5 miles all afternoon, said National Weather Service Lubbock meteorologist Matt Ziebell.

That was nothing compared to the 8,000-foot-high rolling dust cloud that moved through the city just before 6 p.m., dropping visibility to between zero and less than a quarter of a mile, Ziebell said.

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