Texas high plains crash into dust storms

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LUBBOK – The Texas High Plains is a vast stretch of oil-rich soil, farms and ranches as far as the eye can see – only the peaks of Caprock Canyon interrupt the endless miles of plains in the region.

Picturesque scenery can bring beautiful sunsets, but it also brings mud.

A lot of dirt.

The region was covered in a thick layer of dust this week, kicked up by strong winds that reached 69 mph, according to the Lubbock office of the National Weather Service.

“These are the winds you see during tropical storms or hurricanes,” said Harrison Sinkevage, a weather forecaster with the weather service. “But instead of all the rain, everything is dusty and brown and sometimes on fire.”

Although there were no wildfires this week, a warning has been issued in the region. And a high wind warning. And a visibility warning. And an air quality warning too.

Such conditions would be a nightmare for most other places in Texas. In the High Plains, these dust storms are common and can develop into haboobs – intense, sandstorms that quickly apply a sepia filter to everything and turn baby blue skies a muddy brown.

Sinkewij said the reasons include the region’s elevation and its flatness. There aren’t many hills or trees or man-made structures to slow down the wind.

“Faster winds can reach the surface better than along the I-35 corridor between Dallas and Oklahoma City,” Sinkavige said. “Unfortunately, with the wind comes all the beautiful dust.”

Dust storms usually last an hour or two, but the longer the wind has to pick up speed, the more dirt and dust it can wash off dry land and the more likely it is to develop into a habub (an Arabic word for a violent dust storm). Ideal conditions most often occur in March in this part of Texas.

By Thursday, the dust had settled and the sun was shining over Lubbock, which meant there were long queues at local car washes. Lanita Ladd waited beside her silver SUV while her husband Cliff took a detailed look around the interior.

“It was terrible,” Lanita said of the dust storms this week. “It really exacerbates your allergies and you can’t go outside and do things like walk or walk the dog.”

Lanita has lived in Lubbock since she was a teenager, so when this happens, she tries to stick to her usual routine. She took her mother to physical education classes, but because of the weather, it was troublesome.

“We try to keep up with our activities, it just blows us away when we are on the street,” Lanita said. “The wind was so strong yesterday that I went outside and tried to regain my balance. Then when you’re driving, you look at the sky and it’s just brown.”

As soon as Cliff finished washing their car, he brushed off the weather. Lubbock can be muddy and windy, but it’s better than other places, Cliff said.

“Yes, we have to deal with the wind, but we don’t have to deal with major floods or hurricanes,” Cliff said. “All year round we have much better days than bad days.”

Nearly 80 mph winds in Amarillo on Wednesday raised fears of another poor day of visibility. The day before, the dust in Amarillo had been so thick that visibility sometimes dropped below 1 mile, leading to traffic accidents. The Texas Department of Public Safety called the weather “dark”.

“Because of all the droughts that we have experienced over the past three years, everything has dried up,” explained Melissa Beet, a meteorologist at the NWS office in Amarillo. “Then if the farmers have failed to seed the field and nothing is happening to keep that layer of dirt, it allows all the dust to move around.”

Beet said La Niña weather patterns, which cause warmer winter temperatures in the south, have persisted for three years, contributing to the state’s ongoing drought and exacerbating subsequent dust storms in the region.

While locals may get used to it, the conditions can still create problems for people who have to work or drive in the dust. Beat said it’s a different kind of storm to ride through, so people should react differently.

“A lot of people think I should leave the lights on and pull over,” Beat said. “But if you’re parked on the side of the road, visibility is almost zero, and a car pulls up and sees the lights, they’ll think you’re on the road, not out of the way.”

Beat said that even though poor visibility is creating havoc in the region, it’s not unusual.

“It’s just what happens on these windy days when we get here in West Texas,” she said.