If blowing grit was actually the culprit is it not reasonable to assume that there could be some engine damage that is not immediately obvious. I certainly wouldnt like to think that I ingested sand.
I imagine the damage could manifest itself a little later during a critical moment.
Does anybody really believe that a wind gusting to a maximum of 48 MPH could pit a windscreen sufficiently to make them crack - courtesy of some fine grit?
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And do it on all four windscreens of the one parked jet (by artfully and deviously turning around corners)?
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I've flown low-level through heavy desert sandstorms and arctic blizzards at 400+kts with nary a scratch on a heated windscreen.
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For the pressure concept, think "square of the indicated airspeed" folks.
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This is all about heating from cold-soak and how you go about it.
The only alternative explanation that I can think of, having read the others, is an unusually steep inversion. Any chance we can dig up a vertical temperature profile from somewhere?
Still doesn't explain the windsheets that cracked on the ground though.
