Blowing Dust Can Cut Visibility Fast near Levelland

On February 26, 2023, a West Texas Mesonet station three miles south of Levelland measured a 75 mph gust. At a separate station one mile south-southwest of town, thick dust held visibility to a quarter mile or less from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. It did not rise above a half mile until 7:15 p.m.

Avoid driving into dense dust when you can. Never stop in a travel lane. If you can leave the pavement safely, pull fully off the road and as far away as possible before stopping. Once you are off the roadway, turn off every light, set the parking brake, and take your foot off the brake so another driver does not follow your lights.

If there is no safe way to pull off, the National Weather Service gives different instructions: keep the lights on, slow to a speed that fits what you can see, use the centerline as a guide, sound the horn at times, and keep looking for a safe place to leave the road.

Use current National Weather Service alerts for the weather threat and DriveTexas for reported conditions on major TxDOT-maintained roads. They answer different parts of the trip, and neither turns an unreported local road into a promise of clear visibility.