Yuma County urges dust storm safety as monsoon week begins

A wall of dust can turn Yuma roads into a blind crossing in seconds, and county officials are pressing drivers to know the move before the next storm hits. During Monsoon Awareness Week, the Yuma County Office of Emergency Management highlighted dust-storm precautions for a season that Arizona officials say runs from mid-June through the end of September.

The warning is especially urgent in the lower Colorado River Valley, where dust storms can roll across highways as haboobs, stretching miles long and rising thousands of feet high. Arizona emergency officials say visibility can drop to near zero in seconds, creating deadly multi-vehicle crashes on open roads and at highway speeds.

Yuma County Emergency Management Director Tony Badilla said the county’s preparedness work is designed to move warnings to the public quickly. The county says it has maintained NOAA National Weather Service StormReady recognition since 2018, and the current renewal is valid for four years, with the next renewal due in 2030.

To get warnings out, county emergency management says it uses the Emergency Alert System, Rave/IPAWS messaging, social media, local broadcasters and door-to-door notifications when needed. The county also coordinates with cities, tribes, schools, hospitals, nonprofits, volunteer organizations and the military so alerts can reach people across Yuma County and the surrounding area.

The National Weather Service’s Tucson office marked Monsoon Awareness Week as June 7-13, 2026, and singled out Friday, June 12, as Dust Storms day. The timing reflected how early-season dust can catch drivers off guard before the heaviest monsoon rains arrive.

The Arizona Department of Transportation’s long-running “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” campaign says drivers should never drive into a dust storm. If the storm is already on the road and a driver cannot get completely off the highway, officials say to pull completely off the paved roadway, turn off all vehicle lights including flashers, set the emergency brake, keep seatbelts fastened and wait until the storm passes.

For dust complaints and related guidance, Yuma County’s Environmental Programs Division lists the dust-control hotline at 928-217-DUST, or 928-217-3878. As monsoon conditions settle in across Arizona, county officials are treating that number, and those safety steps, as part of the first line of defense before the next wall of dust reaches Yuma County.