A blowing dust advisory has been issued for an area where low-visibility conditions have forced multiple closures of a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 10 in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, and the blowing dust has forced the Arizona Department of Public Safety to s once again initiated a full closure of I-10.
CLOSURE: I-10 is closed from just east of Willcox for dust blowing from farm field.Traffic is being routed north on US 191 to US 70 to NM..
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) May 17, 2016
All resources in place for our closure. This was the first "big one." Luckily it passed over quickly. pic.twitter.com/NoSQIMZ9qB
— Kameron Lee, PIO (@dps_pio_lee) May 17, 2016
The dust advisory issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service for eastern Cochise County in Arizona is set to run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Traffic during closures is detoured 110 miles through Safford, Arizona, on U.S. 191 and U.S. 70. I-10 has been closed east of Wilcox again because of blowing dust from a Sam Simon farm field nearby.
These are moving east, not crossing the Interstate. This is how they start. pic.twitter.com/hUqYSrFUpL
— Kameron Lee, PIO (@dps_pio_lee) May 17, 2016
Since April 7th which was our first dust collision we have closed the Interstate 7 times, including today.
— Kameron Lee, PIO (@dps_pio_lee) May 17, 2016
State officials are working with the owner of recently cleared farm land to water it down and reduce the airborne dust.
