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Duststorms - personal perspectives |
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Duststorm at 4pm, 8th. October 1999 at Gosses Spring nearLake Eyre South |
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| "The morning was clear and fine, with a moderate southerly wind and the temperature in the high twenties. You could tell it was going to be a hot day. We departed our camp on the Rig Road in the Simpson Desert and headed east. The wind was constantly picking up, and dust was lifting off the ground. We stopped for lunch in a corkwood grove, the wind was now howling, and the sky was a murky brown. Visibility was down to 500 metres. The temperature was 40°C. We continued on through the afternoon, at least in the vehicles we were sheltered. Trees were being uprooted. Sand was blowing across the ground. At 6pm the storm appeared to be abating. We pulled into a grove of gidgee trees and set up camp. We buried the tents in sand so they wouldn’t blow away. Just as we sat down for dinner we could hear a roaring in the south. The wind swung, and blew with an even greater ferocity. Tables and chairs went flying. We closed everything up and battened down for the evening. The most extraordinary thing was the wind. I had never heard wind roaring at such a volume. I zipped up my swag and managed to fall asleep. I woke at 6am. There was sand in my eyes and up my nose. There were several shovel loads in my swag. The light was golden, the wind was over and the storm had gone. The air was clear, cool and crisp.” |
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| “We were heading down the Sandover Highway, returning from the Barkly Tablelands. The sky in the direction we were headed was dark and ominous. It looked like rain, the sky became black and heavy, and yet there was no humidity in the air at all. As the day went on the wind picked up. Sand was blowing across the corrugates creating an eerie effect, and uprooted bushes were rolling along the road. At around five in the afternoon we began looking for a camp. The strangest thing was it looked cold outside with the black clouds and the wind in the dimming light, but it was hot, high thirties. We ate in the shelter of the four wheel drives and got in our swags early, zipped up and settled down. The wind buffeted us all night and finally abated at around five in the morning. I unzipped my swag and all was silent, the birds had begun to sing and it was a beautiful cool morning. The wind had removed all the tracks and footprints from the ground and it was as if the storm had never been.” |
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