Dust Storm Traffic Deaths Are Undercounted, NOAA Study Shows

A pileup in a dust storm in New Mexico is the latest example of the danger of car crashes in low visibility caused by blowing dirt or sand.

Recent research by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration shows that these kinds of traffic deaths are underreported and happen more often than thought.

“We found that dust events caused life losses comparable to events like hurricanes and wildfires in some years,” Daniel Tong, author of the paper and a research scientist at NOAA and George Mason University, said in a news release.

(MORE: New Mexico Dust Storm Triggers Pileup)

Looking at records from 2007 to 2017, the researchers estimated there were 232 traffic deaths related to dust storms in the U.S. during that time period. Previously published data only counted 10.

A​ further breakdown counted 14 to 32 deaths per year. That compares to a 10-year average of eight deaths per year attributed directly to hurricane winds by NOAA. The top 10 deadliest years for fires in California, where wildfire deaths are most common, range from 11 to 85 per year, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

At least six people were killed in a pileup amid a dust storm in Illinois last year. Police said winds gusting up to 45 mph kicked up dirt from nearby farmers’ fields and dropped visibility to zero.

Situations like that can panic drivers and cause vehicles to slam into each other. Yet crash statistics don’t always show the danger.

“We would see that huge highway crashes had occurred during dust storms, but later when we looked, we didn’t always see those events reflected in the official, national records,” said Tong.

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The research team found that was because such incidents often carried different labels in government databases and some don’t count dust storms at all. To get a fuller picture, the team also cross-referenced records with reports of dust storms on social media and other sources.

“Greater awareness could reduce crashes and possibly save lives,” said Tong.

Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between. Editor/producers Dan Wright and Pat Maddox contributed to this report.