© Scott McGuire/National Weather Service
"I've been here 10 years and I've never seen it in Reno," said Jim Wallmann, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno.
Dust storms are common in the Middle East and referred to as haboobs, derived from the Arabic term habb meaning "to blow."
And blow it did in Reno.
Just before 6 p.m. Thursday, meteorologists noticed thunderstorms in Fallon. In eastern and central Nevada locations - such as Fallon, Lovelock and Winnemucca - it's not rare for thunderstorms to shoot bursts of wind at the ground, picking up large amounts of dust.
Thursday's dust storm arrived with easterly gusts into Reno. At about 9 p.m., winds started pushing dust into the Truckee Meadows, lasting close to an hour for many locations in Reno and Sparks. Easterly winds resulted from a low-pressure system - the same one that brought rains this week - moving south.
The circulation of the low system created the easterly winds, which aren't rare in Reno, but usually aren't coupled with thunderstorms.
Gusts east of Reno reached 50 mph, and sustained winds of 30 mph kept the dust moving into the Truckee Meadows.
Authorities did not receive reports of damage, and the Reno-Tahoe International Airport said it did not have delays as a result of the dust storm, but photos taken resembled apocalyptic scenes from summer blockbuster films.
Visibility dropped to less than 1 mile in some areas, the weather service said in a tweet.
When asked if they kept recorded histories of dust storms in Reno, meteorologists with the National Weather Service said they did not.
History is about to repeat itself from 10000 years ago and the dust storms are going to consume central US until the end of the impending mini ice age.