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At least 40 to 60 vehicles collided along a busy roadway in Central Illinois on Monday as a result of a dust storm, officials have reported. “The cause of the crash is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility,” Illinois State Police said in a press release. I-55 was shut down in Sangamon and Montgomery counties as a result of the accidents along the highway, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Sangamon County is home to Springfield, the state capital. Winds across the region had been blowing between 35 and...

Six people were confirmed dead in a series of highway collisions Monday in rural Illinois that were blamed on a blinding dust storm, authorities said. More than 30 people, ages 2 to 80, were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said at an early evening news conference.

Burning Man partiers were battered by a huge sandstorm over the weekend that threatened to ruin the finale of nine-day-long Nevada festival as hundreds left early to escape the dust while others strip off in 102F heat. The dust storm hit the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where it's been held since the early 1990s, on Saturday just before the main Burning Man event on Sunday — where the wooden 'man' effigy is ignited. The week-long festival has long been a tradition, frequented by scantily-clad individuals looking to let loose and soak in the event's characteristically psychedelic atmosphere. Burning Man's...

...A blinding dust storm moving at hurricane force winds of 90mph has blanketed half of Kansas and knocked out power to nearly 120,000 residents Wednesday night. Footage of the powerful storm posted to social media show the winds whipping red dust at such high speeds that nearly nothing in front of the camera could be seen, as drivers were forced to pull over... ...The Kansas Department of Transportation reports that highways throughout the state are closed, and staff had to be evacuated from the air traffic control center of the Kansas City International Airport.... ...The National Weather Service in Wichita...

VIDEO MODEL: Half Of The United States To Be Covered In Atmospheric Saharan Dust Storm Through The Coming Week Period - Tag a friend/family member in the comment section below, share to spread information The National Weather Force dust forecast model clearly shows the deep Saharan dust field coming into the Caribbean and moving through the Eastern half of the USA over the next 7 days.Use my model in this video to show the deepest areas of dust, and you will notice a sky color change, including the beautiful sunrise and sunset colors. K.MARTINSenior Meteorologisthttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=278308190036371 

The dust is finally beginning to clear on Mars, but it'll probably still be a while before NASA's sidelined Opportunity rover can phone home. A global dust storm has enshrouded Mars for more than a month, plunging the planet's surface into perpetual darkness. That's complicated life significantly for the solar-powered Opportunity, which has apparently put itself into a sort of hibernation; the rover hasn't contacted its controllers since June 10. Scientists studying the storm "say that, as of Monday, July 23, more dust is falling out than is being raised into the planet's thin air," agency officials added. "That means...

"The animation was created using my image from June 28th taken from Chile using a 1-meter telescope and the MGS basemap of the exact same longitude," Peach told Space.com via email. (MGS is NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which studied the Red Planet from orbit from 1997 to 2006.) The animation was created using my image from June 28th taken from Chile using a 1-meter telescope and the MGS basemap of the exact same longitude," Peach told Space.com via email. (MGS is NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which studied the Red Planet from orbit from 1997 to 2006.) The dust...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's seemingly unstoppable Mars rover Opportunity has been knocked out by a gigantic dust storm that is enveloping the red planet and blotting out the sun. Officials said Wednesday they're hopeful the rover will survive the storm, which already covers one-quarter of Mars and is expected to encircle the planet in another few days. It could be weeks or even months, though, until the sky clears enough for sunlight to reach the Martian surface and recharge Opportunity's batteries through its solar panels. For now, Mars' oldest working rover is stuck in the middle of the raging...

Last month, a thick yellow cloud of dust blanketed parts of the Middle East and extended all the way to Cyprus. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees were forced to scurry for shelter from the choking plume, while Israelis were instructed to stay indoors and ports in Egypt were shut. Health officials in Damascus, the Syrian capital, said more than 1,200 people, including 100 children, were hospitalized with breathing difficulties; in Lebanon, two women died as a result of the dust storm. It was an unusual, unseasonal event, as my colleague Hugh Naylor reported. And, according to a team of...

PINAL COUNTY, AZ (KPHO) - A dust storm has caused three major pileups on Interstate 10, killing one man. The Arizona Department of Public Safety expects the number of people seriously injured to top 15. The DPS says 22 vehicles were involved in the three crashes. The first two crashes happened just after noon near Picacho, about midway between Phoenix and Tucson. Those collisions involved 16 vehicles, including tractor trailers. DPS spokesman Bart Graves says two people involved in those collisions were "extremely critical" but the heavy dust prevented emergency crews from using helicopters to get them to the hospital....

Raw video of dust storm (haboob) last evening.

Already pointed out the need to carry a camera with you at all times to catch amazing pictures. Now, here's one reason to always remember to carry a good videocamera. And survival kits and a GPS and armored suits and canned burgers and infrared goggles or a F-35 helmet. Unlike Lori Mehmen, however, these guys didn't take cover and just kept driving to this huge mother of all dust storms in Australia. Not as dangerous as a tornado, sure, but scary doesn't even start to describe it. WATCH: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a94_1216779982

LANCASTER, Calif. — A blinding sandstorm caught dozens of vehicles in a highway pileup Tuesday in the high desert north of Los Angeles, killing at least two people and injuring 16, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES - They're old and dirty, but NASA's Mars rovers are back in the exploration business after enduring a lengthy Red Planet dust bowl that blocked most of the sunlight they need for power. With skies gradually brightening, the solar-powered rovers Spirit and Opportunity recently resumed driving and other operations that had been suspended during the dust storm. "The rovers are in good health and in good shape," said John Callas, the rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "Things have improved from the more dire conditions that were existing previously due to the dust storm...

The enormous dust storm raging across Mars' southern half has begun to creep into the northern hemisphere as well, new satellite images reveal. Scientists are using the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to track the global Martian dust storm that erupted suddenly in late June. THEMIS is a multiwave camera sensitive to multiple wavelengths of both visible and infrared light. The dust storm began in Mars' heavily cratered southern hemisphere and swelled to encircle the entire planet in roughly a week. As winds swept dust into the atmosphere, the atmosphere warmed, creating a positive feedback...

A major dust storm has developed on the red planet, blocking sunlight and prompting Mars mission managers to keep a close eye on it, SPACE.com has learned. It is not known how large the storm might grow, but already it is thousands of miles across. If it balloons, as dust storms have done in the past, it could hamper operations of NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. For now, officials don't think the storm will threaten rover operations, however. In fact, the windy conditions on the planet have blown off large amounts of dust from the rovers' solar arrays, giving...

BESIMAYA RANGE, Iraq, March 9, 2007 – In the stillness, it's as fine as talcum powder, clouding at the ankles with each footfall. Churned and driven by the wind, it strips exposed skin of moisture and seamlessly works its way into everything: eyes, noses, clothing, weapons -- anything in its path. Army Spc. David Geisman (left) and Spc. Chad Dunford do their best to shield themselves from blowing sand during a March 5 windstorm at Besimaya Range Complex in Iraq. The soldiers are assigned to both of Company A, 1/115th Field Artillery, 867th Corps Support Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade....

Westward swirling clouds of dust from the Sahara Desert might be putting a damper on Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzing satellite data from the past 25 years found that during years when the dust storms rose up, fewer hurricanes swept across the Atlantic, while periods of low dust storm activity were followed by more intense hurricane activity. Hurricanes are fueled by heat and moisture, and it's thought the dust storms help muffle the storms before they fully develop. By doing so, however, the dust storms could shift a hurricane's direction further to the west, the researchers...

A major dust storm has just broken out on Mars and the event will be visible this weekend with good-sized backyard telescopes. The timing is incredible. Amateur skywatchers around the world are planning to gaze at Mars Saturday night because it will be closer to Earth than anytime until the year 2018. The dust storm was no more than a small bright dot Thursday yet it was large and obvious Friday, as seen in images taken by Clay Sherrod at the Arkansas Sky Observatories. NASA took note and is monitoring signals from its Mars rovers, one of which has detected...

Another storm is headed toward South Florida -- and it's not a hurricane. Born in the desert of North Africa, an immense cloud of Saharan sand is being swept across the Atlantic Ocean by the tradewinds. By early next week, South Floridians will experience hazy blue skies, bright orange sunsets and coats of reddish dust on their cars, the National Weather Service said Friday. ''This is not going to be a tremendous event, but it will be kind of interesting,'' said Jim Lushine, a severe weather expert with Miami's weather bureau. The sand is lifted from the Sahara Desert, piggybacking...