Sydney Sand Storm

[RabbieBurns]

not sure if this made the news back home...

 

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs236.snc1/8325_145458571002_595356002_3224929_2080648_n.jpg

 

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs216.snc1/8325_145458576002_595356002_3224930_2856241_n.jpg

 

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs216.snc1/8325_145458586002_595356002_3224931_6054500_n.jpg

 

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs236.snc1/8325_145458611002_595356002_3224934_442448_n.jpg

 

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs236.snc1/8325_145468156002_595356002_3225049_4733068_n.jpg

 

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs216.snc1/8325_145468166002_595356002_3225050_179257_n.jpg

[mac_shinobi]

I don't watch or read the news too much politics for my liking half the time.

 

Good pics though hence the thanks and wonder if the sand storm was bad enough to scratch the camera(s) lense when taking those pix??

 

Just one of my daft thoughts lol

[RabbieBurns]

nah it was really really fine sand, almost just like dust..

 

100 tons or something of the stuff landed on sydney alone apparently

 

Skies had cleared by about 4pm our time, but its stlll windy as hell

[Tcsltd]

Some one had out some pics on twitter, they were taken at Broken hill New South Wales. looked very eerie!!

[ZeroHour]

Did you take those pics Rabbie?

Thats amazing tbh as I did not really realise how bad it was from the news and you are never sure if they are not showing you the worst of it.

Its probably not as windy as Shetland though

[powdarrmonkey]

The BBC news website had a little bit of coverage, but their pictures weren't nearly as impressive as yours.

 

Were you stuck inside or was it ok to go out in?

[cookie_monster]

It's been on the news today but I didn't get chance to watch the report. What caused it? Nice pics by the way.

[RabbieBurns]

Cant take any credit for the pics Im afraid, although mine would have looked just as good if I had ventured outside . I didnt venture outside till it had passed, had to close all the windows and balcony doors all day though as there was a thick film over the floor when I got up. It was very eerie indeed.

[synaesthesia]

Amazing pictures. Was looking at them via the BBC site as we were "testing" a new Sedao digital signage system with the fitting engineer

[RabbieBurns]

basically it was caused by huge winds, the middle of australia is all just red sand/dust, and these winds had whipped it all up and carried it over 1000km. They reckon it was 100 times worse than beijiings pollution levels or something like that.

[cookie_monster]

They reckon it was 100 times worse than beijiings pollution levels or something like that.

 

 

Damn that's bad Beijing air can be like wearing a mask made of lit Gitanes

[RabbieBurns]

Officials said air pollution levels from the dust were the highest recorded since records began in the 1970s, with 15,500 micrograms of particles per cubic metre.

 

"On a clear day the readings for particulate matter or PM10 is around 10-20 micrograms per cubic metre," said Chris Eiser of the NSW department of the environment.

 

"During a bushfire, when there is heavy smoke around, we might see readings of around 300 to 500 micrograms per cubic metre."

 

not sure what beiging is Ill go find out

[eduabncs]

This hit quite a lot of the East coast of Oz though Sydney seems to of been worse hit. I have a school mate who lives near Nambucca Heads which is just north of Brisbane, and it was pretty bad up there too from her photos in Facebook.