The same weather pattern to blame for spreading wildfires throughout southern California is kicking up dust in the south East Valley today.
The National Weather Service in Phoenix reported gusts around 30 mph Wednesday morning in Mesa and Chandler.
The easterly wind disturbed dirt and sent it skyward, and South Mountain was no longer visible from Chandler by 11:30 a.m. The weather service reported that the dust storms were not widespread.
Causing this is a dome of high pressure parked over western Colorado, National Weather Service meteorologist Peter Rogers said.
That system is forcing wind over and down the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona, which makes the air drier, warmer and windier. Rogers said Wednesday’s low temperature of 74 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport set a record for the warmest minimum on this date.
