[PHOTO LINK BELOW] A massive dust storm swept through parts of Australia on Wednesday, bathing the city of Sydney in a reddish haze. Health officials in Sydney warned residents to stay in indoors if possible, especially if they had asthma or heart and lung conditions.

“Avoid spending too much time outdoors due to the high particle levels and hazardous air quality,” the New South Wales Department of Heath Web site said.

“We have already seen an increase in calls to people suffering from asthma and other respiratory problems,” the agency said in a statement.

The country’s bureau of meterology attributed the red haze to strong north-westerly winds which blew the dust overnight to Sydney and regions west of the capital. During the day, the dust blanket moved north onto the Queensland capital of Brisbane.

The dust storm that smothered New South Wales and southern Queensland pushed air pollution levels to 1500 times their normal levels – the highest on record. Chris Eiser, manager of atmospheric science at the department, said measurements taken in Sydney today showed the highest level of particle concentration on record.

A normal day would see around 10 micrograms of particles per cubic metre of air and a bushfire might generate 500 micrograms. Levels today soared to 15,400 micrograms per cubic metre of air at one location.

“During a dust storm, that’s when we get our highest levels historically and this is the highest we’ve measured in Sydney,” Mr Eiser said.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the NSW storm was the worst in 70 years, if not the history of the state. Forecaster Bryan Rollston said the dust, from drought-ravaged western NSW, was propelled by a change from northern to southerly winds. Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the good news was a change in weather was expected to lead to clearer conditions tomorrow.

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(Source: CNN / News.com.au)