Nepal UK
Picture: AP
PHOENIX, ARIZONA — A massive dust storm, known meteorologically as a haboob, descended upon the Phoenix metropolitan area on Monday evening, dramatically reducing visibility to near-zero. The dust wall was immediately followed by intense thunderstorms that brought down trees, caused wind damage, and led to extensive power cuts across the city.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 60,000 customers in Arizona lost power, with the majority of outages centred in Maricopa County. The severe weather also impacted infrastructure, with powerful gusts of up to 70 mph ripping off a connector bridge at Phoenix Sky Harbour Airport. The airport implemented a ground stop for approximately one hour, preventing flights from departing or arriving and causing delays for passengers.
The National Weather Service in Phoenix issued both dust storm and severe thunderstorm warnings, cautioning motorists about dangerous conditions and urging them to "pull aside, stay alive." The Arizona Department of Transportation also issued a public warning about reduced visibility and flooding on major motorways, including the I-10 and I-17.
Police in Gilbert, about 22 miles southeast of Phoenix, advised residents to avoid all travel due to dangerous conditions, reporting traffic light outages and fallen trees throughout the town.
While haboobs are a common feature of Arizona's monsoon season, this particular storm was exceptionally intense. Haboobs form when the collapsing winds of a thunderstorm blast outwards, sweeping up loose desert soil to create a vast, rolling wall of dust. The phenomenon can stretch for miles and climb thousands of feet high, instantly obscuring the horizon and making it nearly impossible to see.
This storm occurred shortly after a similar dust storm in Nevada impacted the Burning Man festival. The annual arts gathering was hit by a dust plume on Saturday, which forced the closure of access roads and created chaotic scenes as vendors scrambled to secure their tents.
