The Day Dawn was Orange
September 23rd 2009 23:03
The Day Dawn was Orange
My Eyewitness report of the September 23 2009 Dust Storm
Like many Sydneysiders I awoke up at dawn disturbed by a vague feeling of wrongness. With hindsight I think the sheer load of dust in the air changed the sound of the wind.
I opened one eye and glanced at a mirror that faced the window and saw a red orange glow.
My first thought was that the southern change had started some freak bush fire despite the Rural Fire Service's burnoff last weekend. The sky was a peculiar color.
Imagine the color burnt sienna turned into smoke and filling the air.
Sienna smog? Sounds pretty ? No it was scary.
The air was full of cold hard fine dry dust moving and shifting building up on roofs and footpaths and any surface.
Hours later after the storm ended I could see cars turned orange not a thick muddy orange or the murky dark color of bushfire ash.
The sky turned to dust.
Dust storms are rare in Sydney and this one was severe even by rural standards.
I had a class so went out with my head wrapped in a scarf. Thru a double wrapped scarf covering my nose and face I could feel the dust stinging my sinuses.
Fog is nuisance or a menace at any time and this smog of wind swept dust was as thick as the heaviest winter fog or the smoke from a burn off or bush fire yet thicker.
The wind finally swept the last of the dust over about mid afternoon and the skies cleared to spring blue but there was still a taste of dust in the air.
We had no roof damage but I will have to spend part of the day trimming off wind burnt leaves off my sage bush and other plants.
I've lost the spring bloom of purple sage flowers that would have fed local bees and have been pleasing to the eye.
Other people got it worse.
I believe Youtube is full of image of idiots standing out in the dust storm taking fuzzy shots of the sky. I refused to damage my camera lens and didn't log on yesterday in case the dust was blocking the wireless signal. So no pictures. Just my account.
Sydney is still recovering and cleaning up.
Now I have to go do some myself.
My Eyewitness report of the September 23 2009 Dust Storm
Like many Sydneysiders I awoke up at dawn disturbed by a vague feeling of wrongness. With hindsight I think the sheer load of dust in the air changed the sound of the wind.
I opened one eye and glanced at a mirror that faced the window and saw a red orange glow.
My first thought was that the southern change had started some freak bush fire despite the Rural Fire Service's burnoff last weekend. The sky was a peculiar color.
Imagine the color burnt sienna turned into smoke and filling the air.
Sienna smog? Sounds pretty ? No it was scary.
The air was full of cold hard fine dry dust moving and shifting building up on roofs and footpaths and any surface.
Hours later after the storm ended I could see cars turned orange not a thick muddy orange or the murky dark color of bushfire ash.
The sky turned to dust.
Dust storms are rare in Sydney and this one was severe even by rural standards.
I had a class so went out with my head wrapped in a scarf. Thru a double wrapped scarf covering my nose and face I could feel the dust stinging my sinuses.
Fog is nuisance or a menace at any time and this smog of wind swept dust was as thick as the heaviest winter fog or the smoke from a burn off or bush fire yet thicker.
The wind finally swept the last of the dust over about mid afternoon and the skies cleared to spring blue but there was still a taste of dust in the air.
We had no roof damage but I will have to spend part of the day trimming off wind burnt leaves off my sage bush and other plants.
I've lost the spring bloom of purple sage flowers that would have fed local bees and have been pleasing to the eye.
Other people got it worse.
I believe Youtube is full of image of idiots standing out in the dust storm taking fuzzy shots of the sky. I refused to damage my camera lens and didn't log on yesterday in case the dust was blocking the wireless signal. So no pictures. Just my account.
Sydney is still recovering and cleaning up.
Now I have to go do some myself.
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