Skies turn eerie orange during massive dust storm in El Paso, Texas

A massive dust storm engulfed western Texas on the afternoon of March 6, 2025, turning the skies over El Paso into an eerie shade of orange.

Strong winds carried thick plumes of dust, reducing visibility and creating an apocalyptic scene.

Video footage captured in El Paso shows the surreal transformation as the dense cloud of dust blotted out all but the reddish-orange hues of the sun. Winds in the region gusted well over 64 km/h (40 mph) for hours, with a recorded peak gust of 84 km/h (52 mph) at El Paso’s Airport during the storm.

The dust storm formed as powerful winds swept across the arid prairies of eastern New Mexico and western Texas, lifting vast amounts of dust and dirt into the atmosphere and smothering towns in its path.

Conditions improved overnight, but another round of blowing dust returned on March 7, with gusts exceeding 64 km/h (40 mph). A Blowing Dust Advisory remained in effect until the evening.

Featured image credit: Roman Davis

Rishika Yadav

Rishika holds a Master’s in International Studies from Stella Maris College, Chennai, India, where she earned a gold medal, and an MCA from the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. Previously, she served as a Research Assistant at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. During her tenure, she contributed as a Junior Writer for Europe Monitor on the Global Politics website and as an Assistant Editor for The World This Week. Her work has also been published in The Hindu newspaper, showing her expertise in global affairs. Rishika is also a recipient of the Women Empowerment Award at the district level in Haryana, India, in 2022.

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