Hazy skies spotted in multiple Central Texas counties on Monday resulted from dust kicked up from cold fronts blowing in from the north, meteorologists at the National Weather Service said.
The front that moved in from the north through the Texas Panhandle early Monday carried dust from as far as Kansas and Oklahoma, said Ethan Williams, a weather service meteorologist. Forecasters expected the dust to clear out by Monday evening.
“We suspect that the haze and dust people have been reporting in and around Austin is due to that dust that was brought in by the front,” Williams said.
Williams said people reported reduced visibility from the dust in Travis, Williamson and Lee counties.
Record heat for October was recorded over the weekend in Austin and at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Sunday. The city’s main weather station at Camp Mabry reported a high temperature of 99 degrees, which broke the previous daily record of 96 set in 1926. Temperatures at Austin’s airport hit 96 degrees, eclipsing the previous record of 95 set in 2015, Williams said.
Temperatures in the Austin area are expected to stay in the high 80s and low 90s throughout most the week with little to no chance of rain, according to the weather service’s extended forecast.
Williams said another cold front is expected to move through the area as early as Thursday, which will lead to cooler conditions more in line with the season over the weekend.
“High temperatures on Thursday are in the upper 80s, but after that front moves through, high temperatures on Friday will only climb up into the low 70s,” Williams said. “It’s quite a big change.”
Seeing a haze in the sky this afternoon? This is dust that originated behind the cold front last night in the Texas Panhandle and Kansas. The dust has moved in behind the leading edge of the front. It should begin to clear by the evening hours. pic.twitter.com/6qedvbCevJ
— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) October 12, 2020
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