PHOENIX — Arizona State University researchers designed a new scale to measure the severity of dust storms in the Phoenix area.
The Phoenix Dust Storm Scale gauges factors such as particulate matter, wind speed, duration and geographic extent to classify events on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the most severe.
“Basically, instead of winds like the hurricane scale, we look at the amount of dust in a given volume of air. There are about 20 sensors across the Phoenix metro area that look at these dust concentrations,” Ryan Heintzman, a professor at ASU’s School of Geographical Science and Urban Planning, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Wednesday.
“So, we look at the storms, and after the storms occur, see what the level of concentration of dust is and classify based on that.”
ABC15 Meteorologist Amber Sullins was part of the team that helped bring the Phoenix Dust Storm Scale to life.
Learn more about it from our news partners at KTAR here.
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