On the South Coast of NSW, it can be easy to forget what the word "drought" means to inland parts of the state.
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Although conditions here are dry and difficult, with paddocks already beginning to yellow in the spring-time sun, out west it's just dust.
The coast got a not-so-subtle reminder of that fact over the weekend, as westerly winds brought a delivery of the red stuff over the Great Dividing Range to coat houses, cars and swimming pools indiscriminately.
Gusts reached speeds of almost 90km/h on Saturday, October 26.
The dust delivery was not big enough to provoke a health warning, and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Health District said emergency departments did not see an increase in presentations due to the weekend dust.
A dust storm in November 2018 elicited a warning from NSW Health.
At the time, Director of Environmental Health Dr Richard Broome said it was especially important for children, older persons, and people with chronic respiratory and cardiovascular conditions such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and heart disease to limit their time outside and not engage in vigorous exercise during a dust storm.
Before that, in 2009, eastern NSW experienced its largest dust storm in 70 years.
That record was previously held by a 2002 dust storm, which dumped between 3.3 and 4.8 million tonnes of dust across NSW and Queensland. In January 1942, a severe dust storm reduced visibility at Sydney airport to 500 metres.
Despite a cooler start to the weeks, temperatures are predicted to be back up to 30 degrees in the Shoalhaven by midday Tuesday, October 29, and remain in the early-mid 30s for the rest of the week.
There is the possibility of showers and a storm on Saturday, November 2 and Sunday, November 3.
