People across the Midwest discovered their homes and vehicles covered in a mysterious residue over the weekend. Puzzled residents from Missouri to Virginia shared images of their dirt-coated cars on social media as they searched for an explanation. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in St. Louis revealed that the dirty rain came from dust in the Southwest that was swept up by a strong jet stream that moved east on Sunday. The storm lifted the dust higher into the atmosphere, and then it fell in light showers over the Midwest. The storm that generated the dust came with wind gusts that reached 62mph at times. The massive dust storm in New Mexico even caused a 23-car pileup, with drivers near Roswell reporting that the sky turned orange. Meteorologists say springtime in the desert of New Mexico often brings dust storms, so drivers should just use common sense and be cautious.
