Sydneysiders have woken to a red haze unlike anything seen before by residents or weather experts, as the sun struggles to pierce a thick blanket of dust cloaking the city this morning.
Callers flooded talkback radio, others hit social networking sites and scores of emails were received from smh.com.au readers as Sydney residents expressed their amazement at this morning's conditions.
"It's just red, red, red as far as you can see," one caller at the Anzac Bridge told 2GB.
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The fiery haze was the result of the sun hitting the blanket of dust, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jane Golding said.
"The reason for the dust is we had some really strong winds in the inland areas of NSW and in South Australia for a sustained period yesterday," she said.
"That's lifted a whole lot of dust off the ground because it's quite dry out there, many of those areas are still drought affected."
The lifted dust had been carried by the winds into Sydney.
"I've not seen anything like this before," Ms Golding said.
The reddish haze was expected to fade as the sun got higher in the sky, Ms Golding said. The haze had turned from a crimson red to orange by about 7am, and then faded to yellow by about 7.30am.
But it was not known what would happen to the dust.
"This is such an infrequent event ... it's hard to say when the dust will stop."
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The dust has caused havoc with the city's transport system this morning, with visibility on the roads reduced to just a few hundred metres in some places.
International and domestic flights at Sydney Airport were delayed as a result of the "strong winds and dust haze", a spokesman said.
A number of incoming international flights had been diverted to Melbourne and Brisbane, although some flights had managed to land in Sydney, he said.
Sydney's ferries were also suspended due to poor visibility on harbour.
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Health problems
Emergency services had also been stretched by the conditions.
The Ambulance Service said it had experienced an increase in calls from asthma sufferers as a result of the dust haze this morning. Some were taken to hospital, a spokeswoman said.
The Fire Brigade received over 500 calls between 3am and 7am, triggered by automatic fire alarms. It normally received only 30 a day in that time period.
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