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Real "Dust" Events
The last event below inspired "Dust." When I found the little article online, I saved it, and, since it happened in Maine, expected Stephen King to use it for a future novel. He didn't - and so, several years later, I did. August 5, 2009 (ScienceDaily article, courtesy of Rie Sheridan Rose): MARS - NASA scientists have used a combination of photographs, taken seconds apart, to create a colorful picture of a Mars dust devil. The camera on Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took photos using three filters to track the whirlwind's movements. The colors appear to be purple, green, and yellow.
Spirit has recorded more than 650 dust devils since 2004.
(Here is the link to the article and the accompanying photo:) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804123242.htm
* * * April 18, 2009: EAST FISHKILL, New York - A strong wind gust at the Beekman Country Club lifted a golf cart and knocked it over, mildly injuring two golfers. Witnesses saw a funnel cloud, which the National Weather Service said was probably a "dust devil." According to a meteorologist, these little wind formations can have "enough velocity to move objects." A Dutchess County police official called the incident "a weird little wind event." Here's a link to the story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2350372/Weird-wind-event-traps-golfers* * *
May 19, 2003:
LEBANON, Maine - A sudden windstorm lifted a roof off an auto body
shop, collapsing most of the two-story building and killing the owner.
A meteorologist at the National Weather Service said Vintage Auto
Body may have been destroyed by a "dust devil," explaining that the
weather conditions were favorable: Dust devils - miniature tornados
that travel along the ground and suck dust into the air - appear on
sunny spring days when temperatures rise quickly in the morning.
"Sometimes the weirdest things happen on clear days," the meteorologist said.
* * *
If anyone reading this page learns of a new "Dust Event," please contact me at sberlinerbooks@optonline.net If I can verify the incident, I will post it here and credit you.
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