Meteorological characteristics of dust storm events in the eastern Great Basin of Utah, U.S.A

We assess the mesoscale climatology of dust storm events affecting Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC) since the 1930s, and document the ascendant controls on atmospheric dust generation and transport in the semi-arid Great Basin. Records indicate a seasonal and diurnal pattern, with dust storms typically occurring in spring months during the afternoon. Since 1930, SLC had 379 dust event days (DEDs), averaging 4.7 per year. Air quality station data from populated regions in Utah indicate that dust events produced elevated PM₁₀ exceeding NAAQS on 16 days since 1993, or 0.9 per year. Analysis of DEDs over the period 1948–2010 (n = 331) indicates that approaching mid-level troughs caused 68% of these dust outbreaks and storms. We analyzed two significant DEDs occurring on 19 April 2008 and 4 March 2009, both of which produced elevated particulate matter (PM) levels in the populated region surrounding SLC. Strengthening cyclonic systems are the primary producer of dust outbreaks and storms; the Great Basin Confluence Zone (GBCZ) in the lee of the Sierra Nevada is a known region of cyclogenesis. These cyclonic systems produce strong southwesterly winds in the eastern Great Basin of Utah - termed “hatu winds” – that exceed threshold friction velocities, entrain sediments and loft them into the atmosphere. Plumes identified in MODIS satellite imagery on case study DEDs indicate specific dust source areas, not widespread sediment mobilization. These “hotspots” include playa surfaces at Sevier Dry Lake, Tule Dry Lake, and the Great Salt Lake Desert, as well as Milford Flat, an area burned by Utah's largest wildfire in 2007. The characteristic mountain-valley topography in the Basin & Range physiographic province creates terrain channeling that enhances deflation and funnels dust-bearing winds toward SLC, a growing urban center.