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How do people cope with these? Do you stay inside and avoid driving?
They seem to be worse in the south, but do they affect Albuquerque much? I have a HEPA air cleaner that I am trying to sell, but maybe I should keep it. I have allergies and a sensitivity to dust.
If you have dust sensitivity, spring time is going to be hard to cope with.
It rarely gets so bad that you can't drive, usually it's just a heavy haze everywhere on windy days. I've seen a few in front of summer thunderstorms where visibility goes to zero - windy day visibility rarely gets below a mile (at least I've never seen it).
Worst time will be in the spring when there's several days of wind and no rain to speak of. It doesn't really hang in the air for long after the wind drops, but it's nothing like the north east where you just don't get much dust. In the summer we can get rain every day, but the rest of the year we can go weeks without any.
Seems like after a week or so our house needs dusting in the spring. We have no central forced air climate control stirring it up (also good for filtering it if you keep on top of filters). The rest of the year it's more like a couple weeks until the house is getting dusty.
I suppose it's all manageable if you know what to expect and have a system in place to deal with it. At least it's not threatening like a hurricane that could blow, blow your house down (we get those).
Per your advice, I removed my Craigslist ad for the HEPA air filtration unit and will hang onto that.
Stupid question: is dust in the air bad for car engines? I imagine cars would draw dust inside as part of the exhaust.
Sorry, someone says "dust storm" and I think of what PHX and SoCal deserts get.
I have air filters in all my rooms, based on room size, and they really do help for the dusty air here. Especially in the summer with the swamp coolers and no filtration to speak of.
I have seen some windy days in the spring but haven't seen a dust storm yet. Having lived in Phoenix, I've seen a real dust storm when a mile high cloud literally covers you with near zero visibility. That is pretty exciting stuff!
I suppose it's all manageable if you know what to expect and have a system in place to deal with it. At least it's not threatening like a hurricane that could blow, blow your house down (we get those).
Per your advice, I removed my Craigslist ad for the HEPA air filtration unit and will hang onto that.
You can always sell the air filter later if you find you aren't using it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by manekeniko
Stupid question: is dust in the air bad for car engines? I imagine cars would draw dust inside as part of the exhaust.
At the levels we get, the car's intake air filter takes care of it. Just get your air filter changed every year.
As others have said, you don't see dust storms here in the sense you get them around Phoenix, it's more just days of prolonged wind moving dust around. I've driven through a couple Phoenix style storms on I-10, zero visibility, super high wind, both were associated with monsoon thunderstorms.
Dust storms, high winds hit Albuquerque
Journal Staff
Apr 13, 2014 - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M
High winds are expected throughout much of New Mexico today, and forecast to reach about 25 mph in Albuquerque.
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Gusts of wind up to 55 mph are blowing up dust across the city, prompting city and National Weather Service officials to caution residents to stay out of the weather.
I'm guessing you don't live here yet? If that's true, my best advice is to be sure and rent or buy a place with regular air conditioning (refrigerated air). The swamp coolers are he!! on allergies - they don't filter like an A/C unit does so you don't really get to escape the pollen/dust. It also helps to run HEPA air filters, but be sure to get the right size for the rooms. I have two small units in each bedroom, and a very large Honeywell unit in my main area (LR/DR combo with kitchen on one end). That's made a big difference in the air quality inside, still gets dusty everywhere but not as quickly.
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