English: A strong storm with a cyclonic atmospheric pattern pulled large amounts of dust from the Gobi Desert and drew them northeastward across Mongolia, northeastern China, eastern Russia, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and part of the Pacific Ocean in early May 2017. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of the storm as it roiled above eastern Russia on May 5.

A broad stream of tan dust can be seen streaming across the southeast corner of the image. This dust mixes with the clouds to the north, becoming entrained with the cloud layer. In some areas the tan dust appears to be above the cloud. The combination of storm clouds and heavy dust completely obscure the green and mountainous lands of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia’s Far East.

For more imagery of this impressive system, see NASA's Earth Observatory story “Dust Sweeps Across Northern China” published May 4. The story can be found at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90178&eocn=home&eoci=nh