It’s Official This is the Dustiest Year El Paso Has Ever Had

It’s not surprising that in El Paso, we’ve got a lot of dusty days; it’s a sign that it’s spring in the Borderland. Now, I’ve lived in El Paso my whole life, and I thought I’d seen my fair share of windy, dusty days. But 2025 has me questioning whether I accidentally walked onto the set of Interstellar. At this point, all I’m missing is Matthew McConaughey piloting a spaceship through the Franklin Mountains.

The dust has been relentless- blowing through windows, sneaking into cars, and turning my allergies into a full-time job. And now scientists are saying what we’ve all been wheezing about: this is officially the dustiest year El Paso has ever had.

El Paso's dust storms of 2025 have now become a historic milestone. According to Thomas Gill, an environmental scientist at UTEP, at the end of April, we have had 28 days of dust storms; for comparison, over the past quarter century, the average for an entire year is 22 days.

And just when was the last time El Paso saw this many dust storms? According to Gill:

You would have to go back to 1936—during the Dust Bowl—to find a year with more. During the Dust Bowl years of 1935 and 1936, El Paso had 13 and 11 dust storms, respectively.

Sadly, Gill says the dust season isn't even over yet! So what exactly is the driving force behind these dust storms? Unusual drought and windy conditions. Gils says this is the worst drought we've see in the last decade and March was the windiest season we've had in more than 50 years.

At this point, I’ve just accepted that my house will have a permanent layer of dust, my sinuses will never know peace, and my wardrobe now revolves around goggles and bandanas. I’ve stopped checking the weather app for rain, I now check it to see how aggressively the dust plans to attack that day. We may be living through a record-breaking, history-making, allergy-triggering dust storm season, but hey, at least El Paso sunsets still look dramatic through a haze of airborne dirt.

Stay dusty, my friends.