Sydney gets a light dusting as Outback reaches eastern coast

Sep 26, 2009, 11:00 GMT

   Sydney - The dust storm forecast for Saturday was a pale imitation of last week's whopper that turned the sky above Sydney orange, blotted out the Opera House and caused chaos on the harbour and at the airport.

   Residents of Australia' biggest city woke to yellowish skies and low visibility but it wasn't a patch on Wednesday's Martian miasma and by mid-morning the skies were back to their usual blue.

   There were no delays at airports, all the harbour ferries were running. There as usual in the parks were joggers and dog-walkers - and you could clearly see them.

   Health authorities had issued warnings to asthmatics, pregnant women and people with cardiovascular disease that the promised dust storm could bring 'hazardous' levels of pollution.

   But the dirt raised by gales in the Outback 1,200 kilometres to the north was blown out to sea within a couple of hours of arriving.

   There were no reports of increased hospital admissions.

   Brisbane, 1,500 kilometres up the east coast from Sydney, was expecting its dusting to arrive in the evening.

   Weather forecasters are tracking a dust-filled storm front 200-kilometres wide rolling out from the continent's Red Centre to the populous coastal fringe.