Big Picture: Armageddon in Australia

It seems Armageddon has hit Australia today – well not exactly but if you look at the photos it does seem that way. Sydney seems to have taken the brunt of a severe sand storm across Australia. And as usual Boston.com‘s Big Picture has some great photographs of today’s event.

A huge outback dust storm – 500 km (310 mi) wide by 1,000 km (620 mi) long – swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, September 23rd, disrupting flights and ground transportation and forcing people indoors for shelter from the hazardous air, gale-force winds, and in some places hailstorms. Those few who ventured outside, especially at dawn, were greeted by a Martian sky, familiar landmarks blotted out by the heavy red dust blowing by. Collected here are a few photos of the worst dust storm Sydney has seen in 70 years, three of which you can click to see a before/after fade effect. (26 photos total)

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is seen on September 23, 2009. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)