The Gold Coast had a clear morning on the 26 September 2009, but by 3pm (AEST) air quality and visibility began to drop and the wind picked up. The air particles were finer then the first dust storm, appearing more like smoke or sea haze, but clearly dust since there was no smell of smoke or salt in the air. Like the first dust storm, the approaching plume was not itself visible but experienced as a gradual drop in visibility.

Image captions:

At 4pm, the farthest visible highrise towers of Surfers Paradise were less than 8km away. The swell has picked up but the beach was popular as usual.

Weekend windsurfers were clearly taking advantage of the wind and surf conditions.

This rare sunset occured around 5pm on a cloudless day.  However the faint sun was no longer visible before it reached the horizon, the result of air particles. The image was taken over the Coomera River at Paradise Point with Mount Tamborine in the background.