Dust Storm in Texas

(Click on image for larger view.)

In late February 2012, a dust storm in the Texas Panhandle dropped visibility to near-zero, and caused numerous accidents and two deaths, according to news station WJLA. The dust swept from eastern New Mexico through Texas, forming a giant arc north of Lubbock.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on February 20, 2012. The dust is thickest north of Lubbock, but some dust hovers over that city as well.

References
WJLA. (2012, February 21). Dust storm big enough to be seen from space over Texas. Accessed February 23, 2012.
NASA images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument:
Aqua - MODIS - NASA