Towering wall of dust rolls through metro Phoenix

Phoenix – An imposing wall of dust crossed the Phoenix metro on Monday with storms that left thousands of people without electricity and temporarily anchored flights to the city’s airport.

Motorists rushed to the house through strong winds and rain as the dust storm, commonly known as Haboob, approached. Habaobs are associated with thunderstorms that collapse and strong winds and can make driving on the roads almost impossible.

Bernae Boykin Hitesman was driving her son and daughter, aged 9 and 11, to the school house on Monday afternoon in Arizona City, about 59 miles (95 kilometers) south-east of Phoenix, when she had to stop quickly while the dust storm engulfs her car.

“I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face if I put my hand outside,” she said. “It was so bad.”

Boykin Hitesman said she could taste the dust and feel the strong wind that shakes her car until he finally spends about 15 minutes later.

“I was nervous,” she said. “My children were really, really frightened, so I was trying to be courageous for them.”

The haboob reduced visibility to a quarter of a mile through the Phoenix metro, but had cleared on Monday evening. Phoenix was drier than usual during the summer rainy season, while certain parts of the Southeast and the North Center of Arizona had a good amount of rain, said Mark O’malley, a meteorologist of the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

“But it is typical of a monsoon, very struck and missed,” he said.

Forecasts for Metro Phoenix call 40% of rain on Tuesday before drying, said O’malley.

More than 15,000 people were still without electricity on Monday evening in Arizona, most of whom were in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, according to Poweroutage.us.

The planes of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were temporarily anchored due to “extreme time”, said Heather Sheath, director of assistant aviation of the airport for public relations, in an email. On Monday evening, the ground stop was lifted, with delayed flights of approximately 15 to 30 minutes.

According to the city’s police service.

Richard Filley, a retired university professor who lives in Gilbert, said that the storm of dust had made the trees influenced and dropped the bird feeders. Fine dust has found its way through “each small crack and space” in the house, he said.

“The part of the wind storm, I’m glad it’s gone,” he said. “You look at Haboobs photos and they are a spectacular natural phenomenon. They are rather beautiful in their own way.”

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Golden reported in Seattle. The author of the Associated Press, Felicia Fonseca, contributed the reports of Flagstaff.