"Dozens of dust events probably happen each year across the 120-square-mile playa once covered by the Great Salt Lake. But there are no comprehensive state or federal records of them." 

"GREAT SALT LAKE, Utah — Kevin Perry was standing on the parched lakebed when the wind started to pick up.

He squinted across a cracked, gray expanse of earth, submerged 16 feet underwater just five decades ago, and saw a wall of dust headed straight for him.

The sand-like specks — probably laced with arsenic and other carcinogenic metals — stung his bare arms and legs as the gusts intensified. After several minutes of deafening squalls and blinding grime, the wind stilled, but the cloud kept barreling toward the shore.

“And it’s rolling into all those neighborhoods,” said Perry, gazing at dozens of homes that have cropped up near what was once the shore of one of the West’s most famous landmarks."

Ruby Mellen and James Roh report for the Washington Post August 17, 2025. [2]