A massive dust storm brought “hazardous” air to much of NSW on Wednesday, prompting health warnings from authorities as the cloud headed north to Queensland. The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage said air quality in the Illawarra and NSW south-west slopes was rated “hazardous” due to the haze, which has also shrouded Sydney. The dust – blown to the east coast by strong west to north-westerly winds on Tuesday and Wednesday – hit Canberra on Tuesday. The weather bureau said the 2300-kilometre-long wall of dust had reduced visibility in the ACT to about three kilometres at its peak. “It’s pretty bad,” meteorologist Stephen Stefanac told the ABC. “This might be, in terms of intensity, the second or third worst for Sydney this summer.” Combined visible 'true colour' and 'false colour' Himawari-8 satellite images from the last 24 hours show large dust storms sweeping over NSW and southern Queensland. pic.twitter.com/60P0LOl3OJ — Weatherzone (@weatherzone) February 13, 2019 When air quality is considered hazardous, the Office of Environment and Heritage advises people, especially those with heart or lung disease, to avoid outdoor exertion and stay inside as much as possible. The dust storm was visible across Sydney on Wednesday morning. Elsewhere in NSW, air quality was considered either fair, poor or very poor on Wednesday. Only the central coast had a “good” rating. The dust storm has been fanned by hot, dry and windy conditions ahead of a forecast trough. The same weather has also brought high fire danger to north-eastern NSW. The dust has been picked up from the state’s west and blown to the coast by strong west to north-westerly winds yesterday and today. Visibility in Canberra was reduced to about three kilometres yesterday afternoon, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), while in the far west visibility was down to one kilometre. According to the Office of Environment and Heritage air quality forecast, the Illawarra region reached a hazardous level about 9pm last night and has not improved. While the situation was expected to improve overnight with a southerly change, the Sydney’s south-west has recorded a “very poor” air quality reading since 8pm. At that level, people with heart or lung diseases along with older adults and children are warned to avoid exercising outdoors. A large area of raised dust is visible from space this morning as a trough sweeps across the country. The dust is thicker out west but should only be a light dust haze in #SEQLD later today and tomorrow morning. Play around with satellite imagery here https://t.co/eMvxrnFFlb pic.twitter.com/x8aL1oPxP8 — Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) February 13, 2019 Mr Stefanac said Sydney skies should be clear by the end of Wednesday as the dust storm moved north. “It’s quite clear on the satellite image at the moment,” he said. “It’s contracting to north-east NSW, so in Sydney it should clear by either late morning or early afternoon.”<doc-sep>The big dust cloud that has been causing visibility and air quality problems in parts of Australia is expected to arrive in New Zealand today. MetService said it would be blown across the South Island and may affect parts of the central North Island on Friday. A large dust storm swept parts of New South Wales and Canberra this week as a cold front pushed strong winds ahead of it across the south east of the country. The storm brought wind damage and power cuts in the Canberra area, and thick dust was moving into southern Queensland. The west coast of the South Island is forecast to be affected by some of this dust from this morning through until tonight, and western parts of the North Island tonight and into Friday morning. Duty forecaster Heath Gullery said it would most likely cause redness in the sky at dusk and dawn. "It's most likely to be seen as an extra redness in the sky during sunrise and sunset. There may be an extra bit of haziness in the sky," he said. He said it was a fairly rare event likely caused by dust and smoke from fires in Australia. Most of the dust will be in the upper atmosphere.<doc-sep>Large parts of New South Wales and the ACT have been blanketed in dust after a cool change blew clouds of fine particles over eastern Australia, causing a sharp drop in air quality. As government scientists in NSW confirmed December and January as the state’s dustiest ever, millions of people woke on Wednesday to find a reddish hue in the morning sky and cars coated in dust. The dust cloud stretched 1,500km from western NSW to the ocean, reaching Canberra on Tuesday afternoon and pushing over Sydney and a large area of eastern NSW overnight. A dust storm sweeps across the eastern states of Australia. Photograph: Japan Meteorological Agency Leading edge of the #duststorm is now reaching #Sydney, after pushing through #Canberra this afternoon & making its way up the #NSW coast. #Dust will build until the change hits the city late tonight. What's truly amazing is the pink is raised dust being pushed north west pic.twitter.com/zSb1e55j0w — Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 12, 2019 NSW health authorities issued air quality warnings for the Illawarra, upper Hunter, south-west Sydney, north-west Sydney and the south-west slopes advising people, especially those with heart and lung conditions, to stay inside as much as possible. A dust storm is expected to hit Sydney later this evening. Listener Nick sent in these photos from Cootamundra. pic.twitter.com/PXWYQt5GL4 — 2GB 873 (@2GB873) February 12, 2019 The air quality index in south-west Sydney was listed as very poor with levels of PM10 particles between 150-199, and hazardous in the Illawarra and and south-west slopes with PM10 levels of over 200 – the same as parts of Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities. Entirely normal and not scary to hear dust smacking against the side of your plane while in the sky (video once we cleared it) pic.twitter.com/9YnMCvZk6R — Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) February 12, 2019 PM10 particles are those less than 10 micrometers in diameter, which are small enough to enter into the lungs and can cause serious health problems including asthma and heart and lung problems. However, a southerly wind was expected to blow the dust away from the Sydney and coastal area on Wednesday. The dust storm followed another hot day across eastern Australia on Tuesday with temperatures reaching the mid-30s in Sydney and coastal areas and into the low 40s in some parts further inland. Dust storms are caused when strong winds lift loose earth and sand from arid landscapes and deposit them high in the atmosphere. The dust is then caught up in cold fronts and dumped back on the land. Luckily the pilot was really comforting ahead of the landing. '60kmph winds from the west, zero visibility, and a dust storm. It'll be a bit bumpy.' — Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) February 12, 2019 A spokesperson for the NSW office of environment and heritage said December and January had been the dustiest on record. December had 23 hours of dust, which is defined as visibility less than 10km, while January had an average of 38 hours of dust across its 21 stations in western NSW. The DustWatch project has 36 stations across NSW and a few in SA and Victoria. The aim is to measure the extent and severity of wind erosion. Wind erosion is the major cause of dust storms. Wind erosion reduces the soils productivity and dust storms impact the community via air pollution<doc-sep>An enormous cloud of dust could be making its way from Australia to New Zealand. MetService warned about the cloud's progress on Twitter on Wednesday and said it could affect some parts of the country. "We see large areas of dust (the hazy brown areas over northwest New South Wales) picked up by strong northwest winds ahead of a cold front. "As the front moves over NZ Thursday, western parts of the South Island may be affected and Central NZ on Friday."<doc-sep>
A 2300-kilometre long dust cloud is heading to New Zealand after blanketing parts of eastern Australia. MetService duty forecaster Heath Gullery​ said the dust blowing across the Tasman Sea would likely reach the South Island and parts of the lower North Island this week. In Australia, strong winds picked up the dust and blew it across cities such as Canberra and Sydney, and also coated parts of the south-east of New South Wales. Gullery said the clouds were likely made up of smoke and dust from the large wildfires occurring in Australia. READ MORE: * Australian heatwave led to 45C temperatures * The science behind why NZ got so hot in January * Cold snap ends NZ heatwave On Wednesday, the dust clouds had travelled across the Tasman Sea after being picked up by north-westerly winds. The dust would likely be high up in the atmosphere, but he said it was "quite likely to reach New Zealand". "I think we will see some quite red sunrises and sunsets," he said. SUPPLIED Beaches in Sydney and the south-east of New South Wales were hazy on Wednesday due to the dust cloud. These hazy-sky views would most likely be visible on Thursday and be seen by people living in the south, and possibly in the lower parts of the North Island. Although the dust was likely high up in the atmosphere, it could linger for a couple of days, he said. However it looked like a south-easterly change was forecast in the Tasman later on in the week, which would move the dust away. Australia's Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said the dust had reduced the air quality to hazardous in some areas, but by midday on Wednesday the air quality was rapidly improving as the dust was blown further north. "It's still over 1300 kilometres long over land, and it does go at least another 1000 kilometres off the coast," Dutschke said. Satellite imagery from 11.20am on Wednesday shows the dust stretched from south-west Queensland into northern NSW and across into the Tasman Sea. The dust cloud (highlighted in pink) is making its way into the Tasman - and potentially over to NZ. Earlier on Wednesday, Weatherzone meteorologist Graeme Brittain said hot, dry, gusty north-westerly winds had brought the dust to the coast. "It picked up the dust lying on the ground and then has vectored it - moved it - south-eastwards across NSW so it has arrived over Sydney over the last several hours," he said. Air quality in the Albury and Wagga Wagga areas was twice the level considered to be hazardous on Wednesday morning, according to the Office of Environment and Heritage. SUPPLIED Dust filled the air in parts of Australia on Wednesday morning. The meteorologist said the dust was being moved on by a strong cold front moving north and east across the south-east of Australia. "We're seeing a ridge of high pressure build across the south-east of Australia in the system's wake, and that's moving clearer, fresher air across NSW, across the Sydney area, so probably by this evening we'll see a marked increase in improving air quality," Brittain said. The hot, dry and gusty winds have also made conditions difficult for firefighters battling two large out-of-control bushfires in the state's north-east. More than 43 fires were burning across NSW on Wednesday morning, and nine of those remained out of control. Weatherzone is owned by Nine. - Stuff and Sydney Morning Herald