1912: Mt. Katmai (AK) erupted and spewed a glowing flood of hot ash that traveled ~15 miles into an area known today as "the land of a thousand smokes". Ash from this eruption was deposited to a 12" depth within 100 miles of the eruption (although this ash thankfully wasn't glowing).
1993: an F3 tornado w/60-mile path tracked from Bertrand, NE to Cushing, NE over the course of ~4.5 hours. While near the Amherst, NE area, it remained stationary for ~90 minutes (time to get out the dirtbikes and go for a ride). Only two people were injured (probably the two who thought riding motorcycles near a stationary tornado to be a good idea) during the storm.
1997: outflow winds from NW AZ thunderstorms produced a wall of dust that swept through Las Vegas Valley and reduced visibility to ~0'. All departing flights from McCarran Airport were grounded for 0.75 hour. It is unclear on how incoming flights got on in all that.
Pingo
As to the 1997 McCarran incident, I can answer that. It is called ILS, or Instrument Landing System. With it, a pilot can land in a rain barrel of his/her choice.
I know this all means something, and probably ties in to the fact that a moose bit my sister while a tornado was going through our hometown's only cheese factory in 1988. It is seared, seared in my memory....
That ain't nothing. Back in my day, we had to walk to school dodging snowflakes big as cars.