Strong winds across the Midwest causing blowing dust and gravity waves
![GOES-16 Dust RGB images, with and without plots of surface observations [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/05/dust-20200505_202111.png)
GOES-16 Dust RGB images, with and without plots of surface observations [click to play animation | MP4]
Gusty winds in western Iowa are creating areas of blowing dust, which is causing reduced visibility on roadways. This is I-29 south of Pacific Junction. #iawx https://t.co/K7kDkTHKN2
— NWS Des Moines (@NWSDesMoines) May 5, 2020
Due to the winds I was Driving thru a mini haboob going to Fremont on Hwy 275. pic.twitter.com/f1WpFr7k1V
— ElPerron (@panchoRF887) May 5, 2020
GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images (below) revealed north-south oriented gravity waves over the same region. These were either vertically-propagating waves initiated by the strong surface winds, or waves that were forced by decelerating flow in the wake of a lower/middle tropospheric jet streak that was rotating through the Lower Missouri River Valley. Although turbulence AIRMETs had been issued for the area, there were no pilot reports confirming the presence of turbulence.
![GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor images, with plot of pilot reports of turbulence, AIRMET boundaries, and NAM40 model 850 hPa winds [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/05/waves_wv_pireps-20200505_163110.png)
GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images, with plot of pilot reports of turbulence, AIRMET boundaries, and NAM40 model 850 hPa winds [click to play animation | MP4]