Want to swap? Here in Broken Hill we are just getting a huge Dust-Storm moving across town, the sky is a very dusty red, the wind is howling and everything has a gritty taste or feel to it.
And Yes, I know about wildfires, bushfires as we call them, they are horrific and my thoughts go out to those affected by them.

@Triphid How far away do those things start in Australia? In the Dirty 30's Dustbowl, the bread basket of America was essentially turned into a desert, and the top soil stripped away to travele in the atmosphere from the Texas Panhandle (Amarillo area) to NYC (about 1300 miles - 2100km).

@Triphid Oh yea, it was completely man made here- I was just curious about what kind of experience you had there with it. I know there it is due (mostly ?) to the weather patterns and position/composition of the land mass, just wondering if any of it was related to human intervention. I know the GBR is really suffering b/c of polution and ocean temps rising.

@jondspen Well the usual actions taken when a dust storm rolls in are;

1. Batten down the hatches, i.e. close ALL doors and windows as tight as possible,
2. turn your Air Cooler (Evaporative types mostly out here) up to HIGH speed, leave the water pump in the OFF position and that will pressurize the house helping to keep most of the dust out,
3. bring the dog inside until the storm has passed,
4. try NOT to go outside during the height of the storm, IF you need to, wear a dust mask or a damp cloth tied around your face and wear sunglasses or some form of eye protection from the dust particles.
   There have been far worse dust storms here than the one on Nov. 20th. Storms that were so thick and heavy that they left a good inch or 2 of red dust all over houses, etc, after it had stopped, businesses would close up and send employees home, the local Silver/Lead and Zinc mines would usually keep the miners underground until it had passed and miners arriving for shift changes would be kept inside buildings as well.
   As school kids we'd be sent home immediately the storm was spotted on the horizon, not a really great idea because we either had to walk OR if we were lucky enough to have one, ride our bicycles home.
   One storm that I'll never forget rolled in at about 1.00pm on a school day while I was in High School, we were immediately dismissed from school and sent packing.

The school was over 2 miles from my home, so I grab my bicycle and started pedaling like fury, by the time I'd gotten about half way home ALL I could see was my hand about 2 inches in front of my face and glimpses of the curbing on my left side. The next thing I knew I was pedaling UP a hill, at least that's what I thought it was, that WAS NOT there previously until I hit with a resounding thump into the inside back wall of a Furniture Removal truck where the removalists were sheltering from the dust.
We all had a good laugh at my predicament, especially after one them said to me, " Shit mate, there are easier ways to ask for a lift you know."

@Triphid lol...wow, that's crazy. is there lots of health problems (like asthma) or deaths (very young or very old probably most vulnerable) from it? Sounds like it's fairly common.

@jondspen Dust Storms used to be a very regular and common thing here right from when the town was first established and up until the late 60s-early 70s, now they are a bit of a rarity since people have been serious about helping the native flora, trees, etc, regenerate.
In a book written about the beginnings of the Mines here there's a chapter that shows clearly how the biggest Mining Consortium, B.H.P. alone cut down virtually every tree within a 70 mile radius of the mines simply to use the timber for struts, etc, in their mine, one example was in 1889 they sent out 4 Bullock Drays ( long open wagons pulled by bullocks) in ONE day and the axe-men cut down over 50 tons of trees. There are place nearby where you can still see the stumps of the trees they cut down.
Most of our dust storms were originated locally, within a 50-150 mile radius, but now we only get them when the dry and arid regions in the center of the country get really whipped up by strong westerly/south-westerly winds in seasons of drought like we are enduring at present.
Yes, asthma has always been a problem here BUT air-borne lead dust, etc, was, without a doubt, the worst plus the smoke and dusts exhausted by the B.H.P. Smelter, now extinct thankfully.