Sixteen thousand tons of dust per hour are riding on one hundred kilometer per hour winds from Lake Eyre and The Darling in South Australia.

They have have travelled more than fifteen hundred kilometers and are filling the air right across the massive state of New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra so far.

Flights, ferries and buses have been postponed at times throughout the day from the wind. Batthurst and places west of here have been wind blasted as has Sydney.

The house is closed down and a dust mask pulled from the closet to try and stop the lungs from taking a worse dusting than they have already had.

The asthma meds are working, just, and a trip to the hospital by ambulance is within the predictable future. There has been no news of the hospitals but they must be getting a workout as well.

The photograph is a local house in the morning light. By the time this was written it had faded under deepening dust clouds and the light has gone from lively but threatening orange to something the color of dirt. Apart from sizing the photo has not been adjusted

Meteorology department suggests there has been nothing this bad since World War 2 but the records are so bad prior to 1960 this may be the worst since records are kept at least.

I need milk and bread but staying at home looks like a better option. Perhaps it will be over by tonight. There was nothing planned for today, flashes of scattered memory are quite regular so resting seems to be important anyway

Interestingly large air conditioners across the state are sending fire alarms off as the dust is seen as smoke by the building sensors but air conditioners are also said to be the best way of cleaning the air a little. The particals are small enough so many are not caught by filters of less than HEPA quality.