CHICAGO — A powerful and unusual dust storm swept through central Illinois in mid-May, triggering zero-visibility warnings for areas as far north as Chicago and northwest Indiana—a weather event so rare it hasn’t occurred in the region for four decades.
The storm, which struck on May 16, brought 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts through areas like Bloomington and Champaign, damaging soybean and corn crops, knocking over trees, and drastically reducing visibility.
Experts say the storm is part of a growing pattern of climate shifts that are transforming the Midwest in ways historically reserved for desert states like Arizona and New Mexico…