Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
dust storm \dust" storm`\ (d[u^]st"st[^o]rm`), n. A strong windstorm that lifts particles of dust or dry soil into the air and blows them around, covering land or objects with a thick layer of dust. Dust storms may occur in arable areas during periods of drought; when a similar storm occurs in a desert area, such a storm is called a sandstorm.
Wiktionary
n. (alternative spelling of duststorm English)
WordNet
Wikipedia
A dust storm is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Particles are transported by saltation and suspension, a process that moves soil from one place and deposits it in another.
Drylands around North Africa and the Arabian peninsula are the main terrestrial sources of airborne dust. Also with some contributions from Iran, Pakistan and India into the Arabian Sea, and China's significant storms deposit dust in the Pacific. It has been argued that recently, poor management of the Earth's drylands, such as neglecting the fallow system, are increasing dust storms size and frequency from desert margins and changing both the local and global climate, and also impacting local economies.
The term sandstorm is used most often in the context of desert sandstorms, especially in the Sahara Desert, or places where sand is a more prevalent soil type than dirt or rock, when, in addition to fine particles obscuring visibility, a considerable amount of larger sand particles are blown closer to the surface. The term dust storm is more likely to be used when finer particles are blown long distances, especially when the dust storm affects urban areas.
Dust Storm (Manter, Kansas) is a 3D digital simulation work of art, by John Gerrard.
Usage examples of "dust storm".
A dust storm of sorts will sneeze across the world and our Family will be no more.
Just as Thorvald had pushed him out of the murk of the dust storm into the crevice, so now did that officer jerk Shann from his feet, forcing him to the floor of the half cave from which they had partially emerged.
And from that vantage point, lying in a hollow, covered with brush, at least a hundred yards downhill from the camp, in a dust storm, he was able to see all that you just described in such vivid detail.
He's sitting in an office in Boston and his son is out in the middle of a dust storm a hundred million kilometers away and there's nothing he can do about it.
I said, and he gave me a strange, sidelong look as another dust storm came up.
I carry water in my throat, and in a hump on my back, enough to let me survive the longest dust storm.