Kansas highway pileup shows how dust storms can become dangerous

SEVERE WEATHER

A pileup on Interstate 70 near Goodland, Kan., on Friday was caused by a dust storm and involved more than 70 vehicles. Other dust storms were reported across the U.S. KANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL VIA AP

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By John Hanna

The Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. >> A gust of wind sweeps over bare soil, kicking up enough dirt and dust to cut visibility to nearly zero, and for drivers, the dust storm seems to come out of nowhere.

Such conditions resulted in a pileup on Interstate 70 last week in western Kansas involving dozens of cars and trucks that left eight people dead. Blinding dust on Tuesday also prompted New Mexico’s transportation department to close a 130-mile stretch of highway from the Arizona state line to the outskirts of Las Cruces.

Hazy or dust-darkened skies have recalled the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s, when millions of tons of blowing soil buried farms and coated towns across the Great Plains. Lesser storms occur every year, particularly in the western U.S., particularly when farmland hasn’t been planted yet in the spring. Some scientists worry that many motorists don’t take them seriously enough.

“We have a very low level of public awareness of a dust storm and what damage it can cause,” said Daniel Tong, an associate professor of atmospheric chemistry at George Mason University who is among the authors of a 2023 paper on dust storm deaths.

Dust storms have a history of causing fatalities

The High Plains Museum in Goodland displays a photo of a tractor buried in blown soil in the 1930s, a reminder of the consequences of a severe drought across the Great Plains that came after farming had destroyed native grasses.

The fatalities Friday near Goodland were the first in the area in a dust storm since 2014, said Jeremy Martin, the Weather Service meteorologist in charge there.

But they came less than a month after an 11-car pileup on I-25 left three people dead, with heavy dust cited as a factor, according to Albuquerque TV’s KRQE. Similarly, a dust storm on I-55 between St. Louis and Springfield, Illinois, in 2023 led to a fatal pileup involving dozens of vehicles.

As blowing dust cut visibility on the road to almost zero, drivers slowed down, causing collisions, authorities said.

A preliminary investigation found that 71 vehicles were involved, said Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April McCollum. Aerial photos showed at least 10 were semis.

“It was hard to even keep your eyes open outside because there was so much dust in the air,” said Jeremy Martin, the National Weather Service meteorologist in charge in Goodland. “It kind of stung to even breathe out in it.”

Similar conditions in eastern Colorado prompted the Colorado State Patrol to warn drivers: “Zero visibility due to high winds and blowing dirt.”

Weather Service forecasters said some of the advice for motorists in a dust storm is counter-intuitive. Michael Anand, a NWS meteorologist in Albuquerque, said motorists should pull off the road as safely as possible, turn off all lights and never use their high beams.

High winds make cars harder to control, and a dust storm coats the road with fine particles that slow breaking, and drivers panic, Tong said.