Australia is now dealing with a massive dust storm, violent hail, and flash floods

A colossal dust storm produced by the substantial winds from extreme thunderstorms hit communities in New South Wales, Australia, on Sunday.

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Many users took to social media to post shocking photos and videos of the 300-kilometre-wide cloud.

Incredible images captured from our contributor Jason Davies of the dust storm that impacted Parkes NSW Australia. Media licensing via SWA. See Jason’s Gallery and Video at https://t.co/Q5NddbiPaZ #duststorm pic.twitter.com/8aTnFON5om

— Severe Weather Aus (@SevereWeatherAU) January 19, 2020

11 minutes from first to last #duststorm #dubbo #straya pic.twitter.com/5mHEzPB6u6

— Ben Walker (@walkerb83) January 19, 2020

Nyngan‘s Grace Behsman took this video of a huge dust storm rolling in as they approached town. Watch til end – scary moment when the storm overtakes and everything goes black. The dust storm has swept the west & is encroaching Dubbo. Remember: not everyone’s celebrating rain 😔 pic.twitter.com/5VMLrFbrrT

— Lucy Thackray (@LucyThack) January 19, 2020

The dust was so brutal in some areas that it managed to block out the sun.

According to The Weather Network, several regions were affected by gusts of up to 100 km/h.

A majority of the dust consisted of topsoil from state farms in New South Wales, which would be transported easily as a result of “drought-like conditions in the area.”

Contrastingly, east of the dust cloud was a polar opposite scenario.

The same weather system resulted in violent hail causing damage to homes, vehicles, and more while resulting in power outages in suburban regions of Canberra and Melbourne.

Just glimpsed the CSIRO glasshouses: none left standing. Think of all the experiments destroyed. https://t.co/YgveoHUBiz pic.twitter.com/m9izop4cpu

— Saul Justin Newman 🏳️‍🌈 (@saul_newman) January 20, 2020

A group of workers having lunch at a Canberra cafe took cover under an umbrella as a severe hailstorm smashed the Australian capital on January 20.

📍Canberra, Australia#WeatherBug #knowbefore #wx #weather #hailstorm pic.twitter.com/LUHw7AhZY7

— WeatherBug (@WeatherBug) January 21, 2020

Additionally, Brisbane and Queensland have been experiencing flash floods.

 

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A post shared by Widya Kusmawati (@schnappymon) on Mar 29, 2017 at 7:38pm PDT

 

Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology issued a tweet on Monday explaining that a major cold front would be making its way across southern Australia on Tuesday with fire danger ratings from severe to extreme for South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.

Additionally, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory will also experience an increased risk of fires as well as strong winds.

A strong cold front will move across southern Australia tomorrow. Increased Fire Danger Ratings of Severe and Extreme for SA, Vic, NSW and Qld, with raised dust likely. On Thur (23 Jan), NSW and ACT will see increased fire risk and strong, gusty winds. https://t.co/l9uu2slh2b pic.twitter.com/midE4rKsxN

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) January 21, 2020