In 12-16 June 2018, the northern part of India and the adjoining Himalayan region have been engulfed in intense dust storm.
Initially, the dust emission/storm was triggered by very strong near-surface southwest winds over the desert area associated with the summer monsoon flow,
which spread the dust storm initially towards the north. Due to the suspension of dust, the visibility was very low and it also impacted the spatial-temporal
evolution of Particulate Matter (PM10 & PM2.5) concentrations over northern India and surrounding regions. The Meso-NH model simulations and
satellite-based observations showed that the dust plume was mostly confined below 2 km over northwest India, while it was transported at elevated (~3-4 km) heights
along the Ganges Valley and the Himalayan region. The Intertropical Discontinuity and the towering Himalayas play an important role in high-dust accumulation over the region.