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This paper describes synoptic meteorological conditions during the U.S.S.R./U.S. dust experiment, September 1989. The 12 papers originating from the U.S.S.R./U.S. dust experiment are more fully described in Golitsyn and Gillette (1993, this issue). It is shown that dust episodes of this period may be categorized as dust haze transported to observational sites from a distant dust source and local dust produced by soil erosion. Two different types of dust storms (continuous and squall) are presented. Continuous storms occur when cold fronts of medium thickness (but greater than 1 km) intrude. Foothills which lie to the south in Afghanistan are believed to correspond to the area of dust generation for continuous storms, whereas the desert sand plateau in northern Afghanistan, to the west of the Kafirnigan River Valley, and local soil erosion are believed to correspond to the area of dust generation for squall storms. To aid in the description of synoptic meteorological conditions analyses of the televisual (t.v. = 0.5-0.7 mu m) and infrared (i.r. = 8-12 mu m) images from the Russian Meteor-2 satellite are presented.