Milky rain mystery: Dust from the dry bed of a shallow lake found its way into the white rain that coated cars and windows, a research team from Washington State University has concluded. 
 
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 Scientists have finally solved the mystery of a milky rain that coated cars and raised eyebrows across a wide swathe of the Pacific Northwest this February, researchers said on Tuesday. 
 
 A multi-disciplinary Washington State University team said they had determined that dust from the dry bed of a shallow lake some 480 miles (772 km) from where the rain fell was to blame for the unusual precipitation. 
 
 The rain left a trail of powdery residue across a nearly 200-mile (322-km) stretch of eastern parts of Oregon andWashington state earlier this year, leaving scientists and residents perplexed about its origins. 
 
 Some scientists initially speculated that an erupting Japanese volcano was the source of the powdery white substance. Others blamed wildfires, and some thought that a Nevada dust storm was the cause. 
 
 All three theories were proven wrong when a Washington State University hydrochemist teamed up with a meteorologist and two geologists at the school to test the chemical composition of rainwater samples and analyze February wind pattern data. 
 
 "The wind trajectory analyzes didn't add up," said Brian Lamb, who runs the university's Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, which determined that air was flowing from the south before the milky rain fell. 
 
 Sodium levels in water samples offered another clue, WSU hydrochemist Kent Keller said in a statement issued on Tuesday. "The chemistry is consistent with a saline source from a dry lake bed," he said. 
 
 That led researchers to consider Oregon's Summer Lake, which is shallow and often largely dries up during droughts. A storm with winds reaching 60 miles per hour (96.5 kph) struck Summer Lake the night before the milky rain. 
 
 "That would have been powerful enough to lift a good-size dust plume," said Nic Loyd, a meteorologist at the university. Additional analysis confirmed Summer Lake to be the rain's origin point, the scientists said. 
 
 Seven years ago, a similar milky rain mystery in New Mexico was also ultimately traced to a dry lake bed, they said. 
 
 (Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Sandra Maler) 

 By Linda Weiford, WSU News 
 
 PULLMAN, Wash. – CNN News called it a “good old-fashioned weather mystery.” Scientists at Washington State University are calling it case closed. 
 
 The riddle of the milky rain that pelted parts of the Pacific Northwest on Feb. 6 and stumped meteorologists from Spokane to Atlanta appears to be solved. 
 
 After reviewing meteorological data – along with test results from samples taken of the whitish substance – a multidisciplinary group of scientists at WSU has ruled out these trending theories: ash from faraway volcanic eruptions, ashy debris from last year’s wild fires and fallout from a Nevada dust storm. 
 
 They believe the source of the mysterious rain was a shallow saline lake in southcentral Oregon, some 480 miles away. 
 
 The test sample’s high sodium content, combined with an analysis of global and regional wind patterns during that time period, point to a severe dust storm that whipped up sand and soil at Oregon’s remote Summer Lake. The light-colored particles were carried north by strong southerly winds and then dragged down by a rainstorm over parts of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the scientists conclude. 
 
 “A lot of sodium was in that milky rain. The chemistry is consistent with a saline source from a dry lake bed,” explained WSU hydrochemist Kent Keller, who interpreted sample results taken in February by the Benton Clean Air Agency in Kennewick, Wash. 
 
 Two geologists and an air quality scientist concur. 
 
 “At first we suspected it was related to wind erosion of landscapes that had previously burned, but the wind trajectory analyses didn’t add up,” said Brian Lamb, who runs the university’s Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. 
 
 Nor did the trajectories add up when traced to two suspected volcanic eruptions that occurred the same week, one in Russia, the other in Mexico, said WSU meteorologist Nic Loyd. 
 
 “The strongest upper level winds didn’t reach this region on a direct line from Russia or Mexico. Instead, the air flow was locally from the south,” he explained. 
 
 And that flow arched directly to Summer Lake where, the night before the milky downpour, a dust storm clocking 60 mph winds struck. 
 
 “That would have been powerful enough to lift a good-size dust plume,” said Loyd. 
 
 The resulting rainfall spurred complaints of chalky residue coating windows and vehicles in at least 15 cities, ranging from Richland and Spokane, Wash., to Hermiston, Ore. 
 
 A similar meteorological mystery unfolded seven years ago in southern New Mexico. The substance’s content, also high in sodium, was eventually linked to dust carried from a dry salty lake bed 120 miles away, according to news accounts. 
 
 Contacts: 
 
 Nic Loyd, WSU meteorologist, 509-786-9357, nicholas.loyd@wsu.edu 
 
 Kent Keller, WSU hydrochemist, 509-335-3040, ckkeller@wsu.edu 
 
 Linda Weiford, WSU News, 509-335-7209, linda.weiford@wsu.edu 

 peace agreement. so when you see secretary kerry meeting with poroshenko, you see him meeting with lavrov we will be listening carefully for any change in language after their meetings. of course secretary kerry said on thursday the ball is very much in the court of moscow. we will be listening to mr. lavrov to see whether there is any kind of idea of a peace agreement. one of the interesting thing here of course is that angela america whole is hosting the conference here in munich germany, has been trying very hard to get a peace agreement while mr. kerry has certainly stepped up the rhetoric and talk about possibly getting defensive military equipment to the ukrainian military. tough talk there, as well. some wondering whether the russians are trying to exploit some sort of difference in the western alliance if you will. we're going to be listening carefully to the word today. this munich conference is a security conference. there's lots going on that has nothing to do with the ukraine. it's more what happens around the edges. these bilaterals, trilaterals
– Some 15 cities along a 200-mile stretch of the Pacific Northwest were coated in a mysterious, chalky substance on Feb. 6 after "milky rain" fell from the sky. For months, the white substance has been considered a "good old-fashioned weather mystery," per CNN. Now, it's a mystery no longer. Though some have suggested a Nevada dust storm or ash from wild fires or far off volcanoes was responsible, Washington State University scientists who analyzed samples of the rain along with meteorological data say the guilty party is a shallow saline lake 480 miles away in Oregon. Soil from Summer Lake was thrown into the air by a bad dust storm and carried north by strong winds. When the clouds opened up, the particles fell to the ground with rain over various parts of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, the scientists explain in a press release. "At first we suspected it was related to wind erosion of landscapes that had previously burned, but the wind trajectory analyses didn't add up," a researcher says. Wind patterns showed the substance couldn't have come from suspected volcanic eruptions in Russia and Mexico, either. "Instead, the air flow was locally from the south," a meteorologist says. The scientists traced the milky matter to Summer Lake—known to dry up during droughts, Christian Science Monitor reports—where 60mph winds were recorded the night before the rain poured. "That would have been powerful enough to lift a good-size dust plume," the meteorologist says. The Tri-City Herald reports samples included sodium, silicon, and trace amounts of aluminum, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and manganese. "The chemistry is consistent with a saline source from a dry lake bed," a hydrochemist adds. (Find out how raindrops get their smell.)