Photo: Wendy Wilde
(Des Moines, IA) -- There appears to be a simple explanation to a weird mystery in Des Moines this week. Pictures started circulating on social media of cars, covered with small dots and spots early Wednesday morning. Meteorologist Mike Fowle of the National Weather Service in Des Moines says the spots were caused by dust, blown up into the atmosphere this week from places like Oklahoma. He says a brief, isolated rain shower occurred early Wednesday morning and brought down some of that dust, drop by drop. When the drops dried, there were were a number of dirt-spotted vehicles. He says the same thing happened during the derecho in December of 2021.
He says the dirt-spots don't hurt anything and will wash off easily.