Flora Graham, deputy editor, newscientist.com
(Image:Brett Martin/Perth Weather Live/AFP/Getty)
Australians sweltering in a record week of catastrophic heat faced another environmental challenge on Wednesday - a wall of sand struck Onslow on the north-western coast of Western Australia.
After gathering sand and dust over land, the storm appeared to crest like a wave as it blew over the surface of the ocean. Tugboat worker Brett Martin was at sea when he captured the image.
Conditions changed suddenly from glassy and flat to a 2-metre swell and 70-kilometre-per-hour winds when the dust storm hit, Martin said. "[There was an] awesome lighting show on the thunder heads once darkness fell."
Gusts of up to 102 km/h were recorded from the storm, Austen Watkins of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology told Yahoo! Australia.
Despite its stunning appearance, dust storms like this are normal in these parts during this time of year, and Watkins said that the storm is unrelated to tropical cyclone Narelle.
What's not normal is the record-breaking?"dome of heat" currently fuelling wildfires in the country.
Storm-casters are hoping to help people dodge Australia's fickle weather with "nowcasts" that predict thunderstorms up to 1 hour ahead.
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