Giant Haboob Dusts Phoenix
It’s something that looks like the size of sand storm in the middle east not in the desert southwest. But yesterday thunderstorms in Tuscon, Arizona pushed cool air away from the storm cells and kicked up dust as it roared north, toward Phoenix.
As it made the 150-mile journey, the cool, moist air collected sand from the desert and created a wall of dust about 5,000 feet high and over 100 miles wide.
Arizona, Oklahoma and other dry states can get big dust storms during the dry summer months. But this one rolled in like a wave, daring residents to film the storm’s arrival and be the last one in their neighborhoods to seek shelter as the dust turned day into night.
Haboob means strong wind in Arabic. Meteorologists estimated winds of about 80 mph inside the cloud which traveled at about 40-50 mph as it descended on the Phoenix area.
Ken Waters, a spokesman for the National Weather Service in Phoenix says, “It was mind-boggling, just absolutely amazing,” Waters has been a meteorologist for many years. And he says, “I’ve not seen a wall of dust like that.”
Video of the sand storm moving into downtown Phoenix, courtesy of CBS News
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