[meteorite-list] another dust storm hits Broken Hill in Australia

From: Michael Murray <mmurray_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:23:53 -0600
Message-ID: <1CCB4AD6-B21B-46D1-9D1A-D7F324A54770_at_montrose.net>

I know I have been thinking of you folks there. The satellite photo
Jeff posted sure showed the storm looking ominous. Can't be good with
all that dust.
All the best to everyone over there.
Mike in CO

On Sep 24, 2009, at 8:53 PM, W&S Schroer wrote:

> Hi list,
> it's Friday morning and the city is covered under a cloud of dust
> again. It's not as bad yet as it was three days ago but I'm sure
> that out in the desert more meteorites will be exposed thanks to the
> relentless storm.
> Unfortunately, the bi-annual Gem & Mineral Show started today and
> will end on Sunday. Most stall holder have travelled hundreds of
> miles to get here, so for them it will be a financial disaster if it
> doesn't calm down soon.
>
> Storms are quite common this time of the year but they normally
> don't carry dust of this magnitude. The dust was originally moved
> earlier this year from inner eastern Australia to the west when
> unusual heavy downpours in north-eastern Australia created countless
> little 'rivers' and filled up the normally dry salt lake called Lake
> Eyre in the north of South Australia. Something like this happens
> only once in every decade or even less and it creates a wonderful
> show of nature where the wildlife flourishes for a few months until
> the lake dries up again.
>
> And this is happening now and millions of fish and thousand of
> pelicans and many more other animals are dying. A paradise is
> turning into hell right now and since hundreds of thousand tons of
> fine dust travelled with the water to this region, it is changing
> now from mud to dust again and those normally harmless yearly storms
> pick up this fine material and carry it from west to east covering a
> large part of Australia.
> Unfortunately, Broken Hill is the first major city that gets hit by
> these storms and by the time they reach the east coast with cities
> like Sydney and Brisbane, the number of particles per cm? is much
> less. Still, people with health problems will be badly affected
> there too.
>
> Anyway, nothing can stop me from going to that show. Who knows, with
> the top soil blown away I might find a meteorite on the foot path.....
>
> Cheers
> Werner Schroer
>
>
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Received on Thu 24 Sep 2009 11:23:53 PM PDT