When living in Phoenix, Arizona, you don’t have to worry about hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, icy roads, snow storms, or tornados. However, in addition to the extreme summer heat in Phoenix, there is monsoon season—and, every once in a while, that includes a massive wall of dust. Yesterday afternoon, an apocalyptic-looking dust storm rolled into the greater Phoenix area. It “blackened skies” and cut electricity for 15,000 people.
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“WOW!!! Talk about monsoon season,” wrote Lindsey Ragas, a local FOX News anchor in a Facebook post sharing a video from the airport. “My photographer captured the dust storm perfectly as it came toward us at Sky Harbor Airport.”
Some people call this type of dust storm a “haboob,” defined as an intense dust storm carried by the wind. However, some consider the term to be specific to sandstorms and dust storms that occur in the Sahara Desert of Africa.
Watch several videos of yesterday’s wall of dust in Phoenix (also sometimes called a “haboob”):
Here’s a view of the dust from a plane above Phoenix:
The dust storm damaged part of the roof at the Sky Harbor airport, according to Ragas:
Header stock image by mdesigner125/Getty Images
