Sydney's Sky Turns Orange as Rare Weather Phenomenon Grips the City

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Sydney The sky has turned orange due to a massive dust storm. South Australia .

Devastating gusts triggered dust storms across South Australia on Monday. Powerful westerly winds lifted additional topsoil throughout the night, and an air current transported the dust and sand towards Victoria, extending as far as the east. NSW by Tuesday morning.

The topsoil became susceptible to erosion after an extended period of arid conditions across most parts of South Africa, where numerous regions in the southern area have faced historically low precipitation levels in recent months.

The 'dust front' could be seen in satellite imagery on Monday over South Australia and western Victoria.

By 3 pm yesterday, the dust cloud was believed to have extended approximately 600 kilometers, engulfing sections of eastern South Australia, northwestern Victoria, and southwestern New South Wales.

By early Tuesday morning, it might appear as a brown mass suspended above the Tasman Sea.

As the travel continued, the dust noticeably thinned out but was still dense enough to cast an unusual orange hue across Sydney for its residents.

This meteorological occurrence is uncommon, as the previous significant dust storm to hit Sydney took place in 2009, painting the sky a vivid orange hue for several days and depositing countless tons of sediment into Sydney Harbour.

Weatherzone's Anthony Sharwood stated that the dust storm was not unexpected.

'Consider the most arid 15-month period recorded over the last 150 years, then factor in the season’s mightiest cold snap accompanied by wind speeds peaking at 80 km/h,' he noted.

'And just like magic, a huge dust storm swept through South Australia mere days before winter began.'

Specialists mentioned that a strong cold front, among the most potent this year, was responsible for these conditions.

Power outages affected numerous homes and establishments in certain areas of SA on Monday due to strong gusts reaching velocities of up to 126 km/h.

Strong tidal waves and intense rainfall also hit the southern part of the state, causing damage to jetties and piers.

Across the border, approximately 3500 homes located to the north of Bendigo experienced power outages due to wind gusts reaching up to 70 km/h that hit Victoria.

The wandering dust storm significantly reduced visibility at airports located between South Australia and the Tasman Sea.

Weatherzone stated that observations from Canberra Airport indicated haze during the night, causing visibility to drop to approximately 5-6 kilometers for over an hour as the dust swept across the ACT region.

'Reduced visibility was similarly observed in various parts of the Illawarra and South Coast regions of New South Wales.'

The aviation forecast for Sydney Airport, utilized to ensure safe planning and operation of flights, also cautioned about dusty conditions on Tuesday morning.

The Department of Meteorology announced that there will be 'dust in the morning' on Tuesday.

Authorities warned the air quality in many parts of Sydney and Illawarra region remained ‘very poor’ at 10am on Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency of New South Wales advised people throughout Sydney and Wollongong to remain inside, keep their windows and doors shut, and refrain from outdoor physical exertion.

However, it also stated that additional strong winds would buffet the New South Wales coastline later in the day.

Severe weather warnings have been issued for destructive winds affecting areas including the Illawarra, portions of the Mid North Coast, Hunter region, South Coast, Central Tablelands, and Southern Tablelands.

The alert applies equally to the Snowy Mountains, Northern Tablelands, North West Slopes, and Plains regions.

It is anticipated that the dust will keep moving across the Tasman and gradually dissipate from the coastal areas.

Rain is likewise anticipated to temporarily revisit the flood-affected regions of eastern New South Wales.

Shower activity might resume later this week in those areas.

The wind speeds will decrease during the night as overall conditions start to settle down.

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