Thirteen visibility sensors along Interstate 10 use light beams to determine the density of dust particles in the air. This will help as state officials anticipate more motorists using the freeway between Phoenix and Tucson in the future. The major culprit, according to the study, is abandoned farmland “exacerbated by further disturbance of the land such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or animals.”. As Lader spoke from his desk at the weather service office on the campus of the University of Arizona on Wednesday, he kept an eye on an array of monitors, one of which was showing radar images of a storm cloud blowing up 40,000 feet into the air in the vicinity of Interstate 10 and Valencia Road. Shaq is a public safety reporter and the Road Runner columnist, keeping readers up to date on transportation news. Driver and two passengers died, authorities said.

There will be a speed feedback sign to inform drivers of their actual speeds. You have permission to edit this article. Memorials, like this one at north of the Sunshine Boulevard exit, dot the fence line along a stretch of Interstate 10 north of Picacho Peak State Park on Wedneday, Nov. 7, 2013, near Picacho, Ariz. Stay in your vehicle with the seatbelts buckled and wait it out. A large dust storm blew through the Phoenix area on Tuesday afternoon just hours after moisture from Tropical Depression Javier flooded roadways in Tucson. Dr. John Galgiani, who heads the University of Arizona’s Valley Fever Center for Excellence, said no spike in valley fever infections followed that storm. Three trees were toppled at the Mission Palms apartment complex on Orange Grove. This is an area with a history of being prone to dust storms caused by strong winds. A storm on July 23 brought rain to a number of areas in the Northeast Valley and the West Valley. • April 9, 1995 — 10 killed and 20 injured in four pileups on Interstate 10 near Bowie. Disobeying flood-area warnings while driving not only puts drivers and their passengers at risk, it does the same to rescuers and can strain resources, officials say.

Variable speed limit signs that activate during low visibility are part of the ADOT Dust Detection and Warning System on Interstate 10 between Eloy and Picacho Peak. Play. Multiple programmable speed limit signs are placed every 1,000 feet near the corridor’s entrance and can shift between 75 mph to 35 mph depending on the situation. TUCSON - Southern Arizona saw its real first taste of monsoon Saturday evening as a severe thunderstorm developed over Benson and tracked towards Marana. He expects a next generation of sensors to solve the problems he is encountering. Fatalities from extreme heat or cold rank first and flash flooding is second, according to the report. One man was killed and at least 15 other people were injured, authorities said.

It’s operational in time for the monsoon season, which officially started last Monday.

To continue viewing content on tucson.com, please sign in with your existing account or subscribe. The Arizona Department of Transportation recently qualified for a federal grant for improvements along the Picacho stretch of I-10 that includes money for dust-warning sensors. “In the last year we went from four to six lanes right in this I-10, Eloy area where a portion of the dust detection and warning system is. Better and more high-resolution sensing is needed, from satellites and from ground sensors, she said. Researchers had documented a link between a massive 1978 dust storm and reports of valley fever infections in California, but Arizona researchers were unable to find any such correlation in an investigation of the aftereffects of a gigantic haboob that blew through Phoenix and its suburbs in July 2011. • March 3, 1989 — Two killed and 43 injured after a bus, 12 trailer rigs and 24 cars were involved in a chain reaction accident on Interstate 10 near Bowie. The new report, titled “Blowing Dust and Dust Storms: One of Arizona’s Most Underrated Weather Hazards,” is available on the Weather Service webpage at: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/. Behind the scenes, 13 sensors mounted on posts along I-10 use light beams to determine the density of dust particles in the air. |, Trump, first lady positive for virus; he has ‘mild symptoms’, White House official: Trump experiencing ‘mild’ symptoms of coronavirus after positive test, Joe Biden reacts to President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump testing positive for COVID-19, The Latest: Pence and his wife test negative for COVID-19. “It’s certainly a big deal for us to deploy this technology and have something that can give drivers this real-time information so they can get through the area more safely during dust storms.”. That’s why the report, in addition to quantifying the carnage caused by dust, suggests mitigation of dust-prone areas along the highways, as well as technical improvements to the warning systems employed by the National Weather Service — more remote sensors and better modeling of the giant dust storms known as haboobs. The weather radar at Interstate 10 and Arizona 87 can detect storms more than 40 miles away and give additional warning of incoming storms to ADOT and the National Weather Service. Nearly half occurred along interstate highways in the southern desert regions, which include the state’s major metropolitan areas and heavily traveled interstate highways. Some of his colleagues rushed to the window wall of the office, which faces south, to watch the towering cloud unleash a dark gray wall of water, which pushed dust ahead of it in all directions. A dust detection system now lines 10 miles of interstate between Picacho Peak and Eloy — mileposts 209 to 219.

A network of nine low-tech, low-cost sensors has been deployed along Interstate 10 in the dustiest region of Pinal County near Picacho. The Sierra Vista Herald Review said the loss of power would disrupt production of Sunday's edition. Galgiani said public health officials are still convinced a dust storm can spread the disease. If you find yourself in a dust storm it's best to check traffic around you, safely begin slowing down and pull off the roadway as soon as possible, ADOT says. The work will last from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and continue through Thursday. Additional signs are placed 2 miles apart. Motorists entering the corridor will see the overhead electronic message boards alerting them to blowing dust and to slow down. ADOT says the pilot-project technology exists only at this location and doesn’t replace common sense driving. Traffic will be set up as one way as flaggers direct motorists through the area. This monsoon-spawned giant wall of dust rolled through the Phoenix area in 2011. “We’re making great strides, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Lader said. Footage shows a huge cloud of dust … ADOT will place sensors, warning signs and reduced speed signals along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between Eloy and Picacho Peak. This provides 40 miles of coverage to help the National Weather Service keep track of what’s happening in the area. On Interstate 10, the accidents are concentrated in two agricultural belts — one in Pinal County between Phoenix and Tucson and the other in Cochise County from Benson to the New Mexico state line. Follow him on Facebook or @bealagram on Twitter. In 2017, he started as an apprentice and later worked part-time until graduating from the UA and being offered a full-time position in 2018.

In terms of injuries, dust leads the list, and the number of deaths attributed to blowing dust might be higher if researchers could quantify the correlation between episodes of blowing dust and deaths from valley fever or respiratory failure. Drivers will likely spot the weather radar system on a 20-foot tower at I-10 and Arizona 87. To continue viewing content on tucson.com, please sign in with your existing account or subscribe. High winds brought a haze over Tucson, Arizona, on July 11, as the National Weather Service issued warnings for a dust storm and a severe thunderstorm in the area. That could help predict their initiation and path and also describe the components of the dust cloud. “This is the first system to our knowledge, anywhere, that has done that.”. “Blowing dust is a significant underrated meteorological hazard in Arizona with impacts across many disciplines and sectors of the economy including transportation, public health, and air quality.”. A new system allows for a “virtually unlimited supply” of letters and numbers that can fit on plates.