Is Lubbock About to Get Even Dustier Than Usual Thanks to Africa?
Scenes like this one are not completely unexpected here on the South Plains. The combination of wind, farmland and development makes for a thick, reddish-brown layer of crud that we live with here in Lubbock from time to time.
We do a good enough job of creating our own dust storms here on the South Plains, so you'd think that the last thing we need is help along those lines...
...well, help is on the way. Thanks to an even dustier place than Lubbock.
THE SAHARA FREAKING DESERT.
Yep, we're importing dust into Texas, now.
According to KHOU in Houston, wind from the Sahara Desert has been traveling over 5,000 miles and is carrying nearly 60 million tons of African dust which could be deposited into the Lone Star State.
Officially, it is called the Saharan Air Layer, and it's big. Like, Cowboy belt buckle big. It's even been known to mess with weather patterns in the Gulf of Mexico, which adversely impact the formation of tropical storms. So this is actually a GOOD thing? I mean, don't we want fewer hurricanes? To me, if that's the case, then BRING ON CLIMATE CHANGE!
It's funny to see people in Houston lamenting over the fact that this dust is coming and complaining that they just washed their vehicles and now they'll get dirty all over again. Here is Lubbock, we call that "Thursday." It's a regular occurrence here, so suck it up, Buttercup.
Perhaps now would be the time to build that border wall to keep that dust out of Tejas? Maybe keep that immigrant dust in cages at the border...or something. Good news, New Mexico...we're letting you back in.
Either way, the lines at our local car washes are about to get even longer. Pack a lunch, and get the hot wax.