File:Dust in Texas and Mexico (MODIS).jpg

English: On the morning of March 2, 2023, strong winds raked southern Texas and Mexico, picking up dust from the dry plains to create widespread dust storms. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image that same day.

A dusty haze hangs over southern Texas, U.S.A. north of the Big Bend of the Rio Grande. South of the Rio Grande, more defined and thicker plumes of tan dust rise from sandy areas near the edge of Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert. Dust, mixed with cloud, fills the southeastern section of the image, covering parts of both Mexico and Texas.

At the time this image was acquired, the U.S. National Weather Service had already issued a warning for the Southwest and Southern Plains, “Thursday and Thursday night: An intensifying system is expected to produce significant severe storms and heavy rain that could cause flash flooding.” By the afternoon of Thursday, March 2, tornado warnings were issued, followed by several reports of tornadoes in Northern Texas and one in Louisiana.

This severe weather outbreak followed on the heels of a larger and even more potent severe winter storm that triggered tornadoes across Oklahoma on February 26 and injured at least 12 people. High winds also triggered a widespread dust storm across Mexico and Texas ahead of the tornado outbreak on that day—and that dust event was captured by NASA’s Earth Observatory. An image and description of the February 26 dust outbreak can be viewed by clicking here