West Texas Dust Storm on October 17th, 2011

We had a whopper of a dust storm blow into Lubbock,Texas on the 17th. There has been a severe drought this year and this northern front that blew in is one of the ways that kind of weather affects us.

My oldest daughter works at Bed Bath and Beyond and when this storm hit the front doors of the store were forced open and wouldn't close. Sand covered everything in the store and they were sweeping and actually shoveling sand in the cleanup.

My brother was just leaving work when it hit and was unable to open the door to go out of the building. Even with co-workers helping. He ended up staying at work an extra hour before it was safe to drive home. Cars caught out on the road had to pull over as visibility was so poor it was unsafe to drive.

Me? I was very sick that day and other than the sound of the wind howling through the front door, I pretty much slept through it.

We haven't had a dust storm like that in many many years. I remember when I was in grade school (long, long ago) that we frequently had dust storms that turned the sky so dark it was like being in school at night. I remember being terribly frightened and so very glad when my Mother arrived to pick me up.

Again, wow....just wow.