Wave of Dust Rolls Through Texas

The Ides of March brought perilous weather conditions to West Texas and the Panhandle. A strong cold front blew south across the arid plains on March 15, 2026, bringing strong winds that kicked up a curtain of dust. The cloud of suspended particles reduced visibility and made travel dangerous as it swept across the region. High winds, coupled with dry conditions, have also increased the risk of wildfires.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of blowing dust as it marched across Texas around 4:45 p.m. Central Time (9:45 p.m. UT) on March 15. An image acquired by the Terra satellite about 5 hours earlier shows the wall of dust when it was about 150 miles (240 kilometers) to the northeast.

Images captured by a storm chaser show visibility dropping to almost zero as the dense plume passes; Similar conditions contributed to a multi-vehicle crash in North Texas. The National Weather Service also issued a Red Flag Warning for March 15 due to the combination of high winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels. Several wildfires have broken out in the Panhandle, prompting evacuations, according to media reports.

Weather conditions deteriorated significantly with the passage of the cold front. A weather station in Pecos recorded a high temperature of 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius) at 4:30 p.m. local time on March 15, around the time of this image. Temperatures then dropped sharply, reaching a low of 39ºF (4ºC) around 6 a.m. the next morning. Pecos experienced sustained winds of approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) per hour with gusts up to 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour on March 15. Several Panhandle stations recorded gusts of more than 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour.

Much of North and West Texas experienced moderate or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Although dust storms are typical in the region at this time of year, the lack of rain dries out vegetation, dries out land and increases the region’s vulnerability to these events.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using NASA MODIS data EOSDIS LANCE And GIBS/Worldview. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

• Amarillo Globe-News (March 16, 2026) Video of wildfires and dust storms forcing evacuations in the Texas Panhandle. Accessed March 17, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (March 6, 2025) The storm brings a potpourri of dangers to the United States. Accessed March 17, 2026.
• NASA Earthdata (2026) Dust/Ash/Smoke. Accessed March 17, 2026.
• National Weather Service, Dust Storms and Haboobs. Accessed March 17, 2026.
• National Weather Service, via Iowa Environmental Mesonet (March 14, 2026) Urgent – ​​Weather message. Accessed March 17, 2026.
• Texas Storm Chasers (March 13, 2026) Texas Weather Summary: Dangerous fires, damaging winds and an intense cold front Sunday. Accessed March 17, 2026.