Sydney Australia covered in a cloud of red dust

According to www.theage.com, this morning residents of Sydney woke up to see the city enveloped in red dust. The dust made visibility bad and many airports were forced to delay flights. Even the sun had difficulty shining through the thick cloud. The reddish tinge is due to the sunlight hitting and reflecting off the cloud of dust. Meteorologists linked the dust to strong winds in inland Australia that whipped up dust and then blew towards Sydney. They believe the dust could possible travel as far New Zealand. Although the dust is a spectacular sight, meteorologists were more concerned about the high speed winds that were expected to blow through Sydney Yesterday morning. Some people were concerned with breathing issues due to the the dust. The ambulance service said they had more calls due to asthma related incidents. An education department spokesman in Sydney said that if parents felt concerned about their child's asthma then it would alright to keep them home. The red dust over Sydney was definitly a unexpected sight to its citizens.

Pictures of the city can be seen at : http://www.theage.com.au/environment/brisbane-cbd-dusted-sydney-storm-heads-north-20090923-g0y1.html