It was the first time the city had seen a dust storm since May 10, 1934, which was during the first wave of the Dust Bowl. Friday's storm was carrying dust picked up from farms in central Illinois, and raced north toward the Chicago area.

High winds and bare fields combined into a rare dust storm that swept through Chicago on Friday. The vast blanket of dust began in northwest Indiana and moved across Illinois, bringing gusts as high as 52 miles per hour into Chicago’s Midway Airport.