Saturday

Haboob


The other day a haboob came through that was probably the worst one of this monsoon season. They are amazing to see, but painful to be in the middle of.

I have been caught in them while driving between Tucson and Phoenix and it's very similar to being in a very heavy fog where you can't see 2 feet in front of you. While driving you have to be very careful. I have also been caught in them while outdoors, in rain and you are literally being rained on by mud. Then I've also tried to out chase them to get home and cover my pool and everything else that I could before it all became covered by the dust and dirt.

When watching them from afar they look like a huge wall of dust and dirt and can vary in color. The ones in these pictures were taken by the ABC affiliate KNXV are a white/grey in color. But I have also seen them as a brown/red color.

It's interesting to see them, but I'd rather be indoors as they blow through!

13 reviews:

StaroftheEast said...

Such a haboob looks horrible, and not so healty either I think :S

Margins. said...

Oh wow! I have never seen or experienced such a thing!

p.s. I've missed you!

Lucky Girl said...

I'm a huge weather channel fan, and I've never heard of a haboob. This is impressive to see, and now I want to experience one in person!

Tacosneggrolls said...

THis is Crazy. Very cool pic. Scary looking, but a really cool name! HABOOB!

ModernMommy said...

I never knew what it was called, but I have been stuck in a few myself. One time there was literally zero visibility and everyone just had to park their cars until it was over.

Unknown said...

how scary...i'd rather be seeing it over here than there. Keep safe and have a good week ahead :D

Designing Hilary said...

Haboob. I wonder what the origin of that word is ... I've never heard of it before.

But I got caught in one when driving down I25 on my way to Albuquerque. I felt sorry for the two couples on their motorcycle cruisers in front of me, but fortunately we quickly came upon a stop they could turn off to and wait out the storm.

woolies said...

we were driving from San Diego to Tucson. as we came out of the mountain range, we came into this big black cloud. Was it dust? It went on and on and on. Very windy. Spooky. Other-wordly. Was that a haboob? ??

Waterrose said...

Yes, haboobs are interesting and scary. I never heard of them until I moved to Arizona from Ohio and the first one I saw was frightening.

Haboobs are also found in the middle eastern countries...I guess whereever there is sand and lots of wind.

Woolies, I would guess that it was a haboob and I remember one being discussed on the news in that area recently.

Anonymous said...

That looks rather scary! I'd rather be indoors too! Do they do damage?

Body Natural Soap said...

Wow what a amazing sight. I can imangine that that would be painful.

Anonymous said...

I remember these from when we lived there - I worked in Tempe & lived in Glendale... if I was lucky, I would get off work just ahead of it... of not, I had to drive through downtown Phoenix not able to see anything but brown.

The most amazing part though was the second wall - the water. Raindrops that were 4" across on the windshield.

I loved to watch them from a distance... the brown wall of dust followed by the dark gray wall of water. Very cool.

Thanks for the memory!

XUE said...

when we used to live in China, there were these really scary ones that resembles a gigantic orange wall of sand & dust (from the Gobi dessert). Also reminds me of the scene from "The Scorpion King"!

Related Posts with Thumbnails