I ran through a small microburst that caused a sandstorm today. A couple weeks ago I ran through modest sized hail. A week or so before that it was stinging sleety ice. Apparently, whenever I run, bad weather happens. Today's microburst was rather awesome, despite the discomfort of it.

The sun was abundant throughout the day until this evening. As I prepped for my run, the clouds blew in and the wind picked up a little. Throughout the valley, you could see areas where dust was blowing around. As I got about a mile from home, I could see a few good dust clouds blowing above the route home. The closer I got, the more the dust blew. Then, out of nowhere, the wind went from a nice 5-10 mph to out of control. I estimate it was a good 50 mph or more. Trees were bent down about 45 degrees, metal signs were banging around, and for every 10 steps I took running hard, I only moved about 5 feet. I fought my way forward and looked up and saw a rather alarming sight. A wall of dirt and dust, the sandstorm, completely obscured the road ahead. Like a fool, I ran into the wall of dust. Visibility was a few feet inside the mayhem, which spanned a good 30 yards through. On the other side, I emerged out of the thick of things only to find more dust blowing for another block or so. Exhausted and somewhat disoriented from all the sand in my eyes, ears, mouth, and now runny nose, I stopped my run, regained my wits, snapped some photos, and walked the last half mile home.

It was exciting, I'll admit, though probably a bit dangerous. The sandstorm was caused by all the loose, dry dirt from a house construction site at that particular spot. Fields of hay or wild weeds cover most of the undeveloped areas along this running route, but the area of the sandstorm has a dirt road plus no vegetation as a result of the construction. Two cars that seemed to have been caught right when it happened drove through the 30 yard sandstorm, everyone else actually pulled over and waited for it to let up a bit before passing. They likely thought, as I did, of the sandstorm in Nevada a few days back that caused similar conditions over a larger span of road, which resulted in a 27-vehicle pile up and took a truck driver's life.

Aside from needing an immediate shower, I was ok and now have a good story to tell. Here are some pictures I snapped. The microburst was past by this time and while there was plenty of dust about when I took these, it is nowhere near the sandstorm I had just run through.

A not so great panoramic of the area..ironically, the area with all the light just above the horizon is right where just minutes before a microburst blew sand to create zero visibility

Crazy clouds going on

Lots of dust as the sun set

Song of the Day is..."You'll Never Walk Alone"...because it talks about walking through a storm :)