Dirty rain leaves Mid-Missouri with dust covered cars

If you have not washed your car and had it parked outdoors last week, you might notice a splotchy dust film along the winds of your car. This was caused by a phenomenon often called "dirty rain". Dirty rain is exactly what it sounds like.

Rain is sometimes referred to as a filter for the air. It can take pollutants, dust, or other small micro-particles and pull them out of the atmosphere as they collect into rain drops.

It is not uncommon to see dust in the mid to lower levels of the atmosphere. Meteorologist can actually track and predict where large suspended dust particles are in the atmosphere. Monday evening shows large plumes of air with heavier amounts of dust just to the east of Illinois.

Last week, a dust storm in Texas caused dust particles to soar into the lower-level jet stream. Winds in the lower-level jet stream pulled this dust to the northeast into Mid-Missouri.

Moisture met with this air mass as a weak cold front pushed through the region. This lead to light isolated showers which filtered out the dust and deposited it across the region leading to the film sen across Mid-Missouri's vehicles if parked outdoors.

Looking ahead, this dirty rain should not be an ongoing issue as mostly sunny skies and drier conditions are forecasted lasting through Thursday.