Where does a dust storm take place?

Answer 1

in a place were there is lots of dust. But this doesn't mean you can have a dust storm in your living room.

A dust storm usually takes place where it is flat, hot, and dry(this description usually fits the desert).

In the desert

AnswerProperly, a dust storm (as distinct from a sandstorm) occurs when powerful winds pick up large quantities of very dry (and thus, easy to particulate) exposed surface soil. This generally happens due to two conditions:

(a) the vegetation which normally covers the surface has been killed or died off. This can be for a variety of reasons: excessive drought, poor farming techniques which strip off ground cover without quickly replacing it (e.g. bad ploughing), fires, etc.

(b) Excessive temperatures without periodic rainfall, or very long droughts with moderate temperatures. This dries out the exposed soil; when sufficiently dry, the soil will fail to clump, and instead powders. Powdered soil is easy for modest winds to pick up and blow around.

For the most part, dust storms do NOT happen in deserts (as they lack sufficient soil, and what soil there exists is not of the right type); rather, they tend to happen in areas which were formerly fertile until some disaster (man-made or natural) caused the above pre-conditions to occur. Dust storms are most likely in large, flat, open spaces, though they can happen in or near forested or hilly areas, too.