And with climate change set to bring more variability, Australia may experience more large scale dust storms in the future.
This week's storm covered a large area of eastern Australia, with PM10 (particles less than 10 micrometres) levels in most Australian cities being well above safe levels.I had all the windows in the house open and everything is covered in dust.Severe weather forecaster Dr Deryn Griffiths of the Bureau of Meteorology says the dust storm started two days ago when 100 kilometre per hour winds whipped up dust from the central region of Australia.
"It started in South Australia and has since extended across all of New South Wales and into Queensland."
She says extremely dry conditions throughout the interior of the country, along with strong winds, provided the perfect recipe for the dust storm.
"The township of Moomba in South Australia has had only 11 millimetres [of rain] this year - it's very, very dry," she said.Dr Griffiths says the dust storm is the biggest to hit the city of Sydney since the 1940s.
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