Dust from Oregon caused milky rain, meteorologist says

The “milky rain” many experienced last week in the Pacific Northwest came from an ancient saline lake nearly 500 miles away, according to Washington State University meteorologist Nic Loyd.

“A meshing of independent weather systems that appears to have started in a remote area of southern Oregon ultimately caused dirty-white-colored raindrops to fall in Eastern Washington and northeast Oregon,” Loyd said. “It was an unusual convergence of weather factors that set up the event.”

According to Loyd, intense winds whipped across the Summer Lake region in south-central Oregon, which spun dry, light-colored sands into the air. Wind gusts reportedly went on for several hours.

Next, strong winds blew sand and soil north.

“Had the winds not been so strong or constant, the dust plume would have dispersed before it got here,” Loyd said. “As it was, it was able to travel a large distance in less than 12 hours.”

When the plume arrived, a rainstorm passing through pockets of Washington and Oregon drove the debris downward.