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I'm curious about what you gals who travel in the Southwest know about sand storms. Recently I have heard about some on the I 40 corridor and then there are all the warning signs along I 10. In all my driving trips back and forth between CA and TX I have not encountered one...yet! So what's the scoop (good pun!)? Do the local radio stations give warnings? How long do they last? If I see one in the distance, do I stop where I am to wait it out or continue on and hope for the best? If caught in one is it best to pull way off the road with warning lights on? Headlights? How long do they last? I know about snow storms! Not so much about sand.....

Sorry Diana, haven't been in a bad one YET, but yes if you see it coming and you can get wayyy off the highway, do so. And I mean wayyy off! Do not turn on your blinkers if you're off the road, someone may see them and head right toward you. Drive with your headlights on, blinkers on. The ones I've been through have been for short duration, but I've seen on tv huge ones that go for miles. That's about all I can tell you about them. Sorry. This is pretty much how we drive in the fog, so don't imagine it would be much different.

I've been in a minor one. They can't really give warnings, other than wind warnings (thus the signs on the roads). If there's high winds in sandy areas, a sand storm can happen. Kind of like flash floods, they can only tell you that the conditions are ripe.

That said, best thing to do is get out of the sand storm area. But if it's bad, it's mainly that you can't see. The sand is blowing everywhere. Do what Sharon said. Like Sharon, I haven't been in one that's really that bad. But have been in blowing sand - omg, in my mouth, eyes, etc. Jean and I had blowing sand on a hike we went on - I had sand in my eyes, already have dry eyes - my eyes hurt for weeks after, no matter how many drops, etc I put in - even actually used my dry eyes overnight eye cream every night for awhile there. And my hair, which is normally oily, was dry as can be. You should have seen the amount of sand in the shower! And that wasn't bad to drive in - horrendous to hike in, tho.

well, down here in Arizona, we've had a few, and you can see them up ahead,
looks dark like a storm and as long as you stay behind it your fine, but if its
blowing towards you, the news recommends to pull off the road as far away
as possible and do NOT turn your lights on. The ones I've been in have passed
in about a half hour so it really isn't a long wait. Up there in that area off I-40
where they have closed the road is a huge area of nothing so lots of dust able
to blow around. In between Phoenix and Tucson on I-10, they have them often,
and in fact that area has wind all the time. If you've been in a dust storm, its
recommended to clean your air filter first chance you get. I just take mine
out and tap it on the ground to rid it of the dust, then put it back in. I hate
the dust storms.

I hate the wind let alone sand with it!
Sheila

I have been in ONE and it just came on us all of a sudden. Was over 10 yrs ago south of Lubbock , Tx. My daughter was driving and we felt like someone just threw a blanket over the windshield. She shrieked and asked me what to do. I said,, well,, i'd say don't stop.... just slow down and keep going ... we did, about 45 mph and prayed that it would stop. I think we drove out of it in about 5 or 10 mins.. but sure was scary. I would just say to do as Ava said....if you see a dark spot ahead of you,, pull off,, and if it comes upon you like it did us...do as we did.. My thought is that if you stop...someone will run over you,, and if you keep your same hwy speed... you will run over someone.... so my idea to slow down is the lesser of the choices....

I have never asked an expert. Might google it... i am gonna.

I have heard of them in Ariz. and scores of cars are piled up! That could be disastrous!

I have never been in a sandstorm and hope to never see one up close. Here is a video of people driving into one in Austraila.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0W_QFG27gs

I was in one in NM and my friend and I had no idea what the red cloud was ahead we were seeing. We drove right into it and kept driving but suddenly the car died we had no time to pull over. We are doing a Blue Highways thing and were on a two lane road so there we were. We looked at each other and I said well, where is he? She said WHO and I said PC (prince charming, this was 1984)...just then a gorgeous cowboy knocked on her window and we about jumped out of the car. He was pretty frustrated at first saying he almost rear ended us and we told him the car had died. He said well your air filter is probably clogged but we have to get you off the road. We're pulling a small UHaul and he got back in his truck and pushed us to the side of the road. By the time he got back I remembered I had an extra air filter in my trunk. I didn't want to bring it but one of my boyfriends had insisted and I had finally agreed to shut him up, humm maybe he had a premonition. PC put in the new filter and followed us to the next town and safely out of the storm. And we all lived happily ever after even though we sometimes long for the good old days when we still believed.

Oh, that is just the best story ever! Great thread.

DD

In my younger years I used go and live in CA every summer. We went camping at Salton Sea one weekend. Luckily we left earlier than the rest of the group because they ended up in the middle of a sandstorm on their way back. The car looked like someone had used a sandblaster on it.

I hear ppl from west texas talk about their vehicles getting "sandblasted" ! I have never seen one and I hope I never do...a sandblast job, that is,,, sandstorms... one was ENOUGH!