Something terrifying happened in Arizona yesterday that left thousands of people in complete darkness during the middle of the day. A massive dust storm engulfs Arizona, particularly hitting Phoenix, creating what looked like the end of the world for anyone caught in its path.
But this wasn’t just any regular dust storm – this was a monster that nobody saw coming.
The Giant Dust Cloud That Swallowed Phoenix
A massive cloud made entirely of dust and stretching thousands of feet into the sky. That’s exactly what rolled through Phoenix on Monday evening when this dust storm engulfs Arizona’s biggest city.
“I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face if I put my hand outside,” said Bernae Boykin Hitesman, who was driving her two kids home from school when the storm hit Arizona City, about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix.
A towering wall of dust, known meteorologically as a haboob, swallowed parts of metro Phoenix Monday evening, plunging the city into near-zero visibility. The dust storm was quickly followed by severe thunderstorms that tore through the city, leaving behind downed trees, wind damage and widespread power outages.
The haboob cut visibility to just a quarter-mile across the entire Phoenix area. That’s like trying to see through thick fog, except it’s not fog – it’s billions of tiny particles of desert sand flying through the air at incredible speeds.
The Airport That Got Its Roof Ripped Off
Here’s where things get really dramatic. When this dust storm engulfs Arizona’s busiest airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, it didn’t just cause flight delays – it actually ripped part of a terminal roof clean off.
At Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, a connector bridge was shredded by 70 mph wind gusts. Sources tell ABC15 the monsoon storm damaged portions of the roof over Terminal 4. The Sky Train operations are currently stopped, and fire alarms went off at multiple locations.
“Crews have been identifying leaks and attempting to clean up water where it has collected in passenger areas,” said Heather Shelbrack, the airport’s deputy aviation director. The FAA Tower was even evacuated during the worst of it.
One flight, Allegiant Flight 2285, was forced to divert to Las Vegas because pilots couldn’t see well enough to land safely when the dust storm engulfs Arizona’s main airport.
39,000 People Sitting in the Dark
The power situation is staggering. About 39,000 people were without power in Arizona, most of whom were in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, according to PowerOutage.us. At one point, the number reached 15,000 customers in the dark just from the initial impact.
When a dust storm engulfs Arizona with this kind of intensity, it’s not just the dust that causes problems. The heavy winds that push all that sand around also knock down power lines, uproot trees, and damage anything that isn’t tied down properly.
Richard Filley, a retired university professor who lives in Gilbert, said the dust storm caused trees to sway violently and knocked bird feeders to the ground. Fine dust found its way through “every little crack and space” into his house.
What Exactly is a Haboob?
You might be wondering what this scary-sounding word “haboob” actually means. It’s basically Arabic for “blowing furiously,” which perfectly describes what happens when a dust storm engulfs Arizona in this dramatic way.
Dust storms are nothing new in Arizona’s monsoon season, but this storm packed extra punch. A thunderstorm collapsed, and its winds blasted outward, scooping up desert soil and building it into a rolling wall of dust.
These walls can climb thousands of feet high and stretch for miles, cutting off the horizon in seconds. It’s like a blizzard in winter, except instead of snow, you’ve got sand and dust making it impossible to see.
You can actually see a haboob’s wall of dust coming from a distance, but by the time it reaches you, it’s too late to seek shelter – especially if you’re driving.
The Roads That Became Death Traps
Speaking of driving, that’s where things got really dangerous when this dust storm engulfs Arizona’s major highways. The National Weather Service issued urgent warnings, telling people to “pull aside stay alive” – and they meant it.
The Arizona Department of Transportation echoed that warning, saying there was significantly reduced visibility on I-10 and I-17 due to the dust storm and flooding on roadways, urging drivers to proceed with caution.
When a dust storm engulfs Arizona’s highways, visibility can drop to just 50 feet. That means you can barely see the car directly in front of you, making driving incredibly dangerous.
Gilbert Police Department posted on social media: “Due to the current storm we are experiencing traffic light outages and downed trees across town. Please avoid travel this evening due to dangerous conditions.”
The Science Behind the Chaos
Here’s what actually happens when a dust storm engulfs Arizona with this kind of power. A thunderstorm builds up in the desert, gets really powerful, and then suddenly collapses. When it collapses, all that energy has to go somewhere, so it blasts outward in all directions.
These powerful winds hit the desert floor and scoop up millions of tons of sand and dust, creating a massive wall that can be seen from space. The wall then rolls across the landscape, carrying all that debris with it.
It’s nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in front of you in the worst of these storms as the dust chokes out light completely.
When Monday Felt Like the Apocalypse
Videos posted to social media showed entire neighborhoods disappearing into darkness as this dust storm engulfs Arizona communities one by one. One video shot from a passing plane showed the sheer extent of the cloud, stretching for miles into the distance.
The timing couldn’t have been worse – people were driving home from work, kids were getting out of school, and suddenly the world just vanished around them.
“You look at the photos of haboobs and they are a spectacular natural phenomenon. They are kind of beautiful in their own way,” said Richard Filley, though he was quick to add: “The windstorm part of it, I’m glad it’s gone.”
The Cleanup and What’s Next
As of Tuesday morning, more than 5,000 people were still without power, mostly in Maricopa County. Airport operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor are slowly resuming as crews assess the damage and clean up the water that leaked through the damaged roof.
Phoenix has been drier than usual during the monsoon season, while parts of southeast and north-central Arizona have had a fair amount of rain. “But that’s typical for a monsoon, very hit and miss,” said Mark O’Malley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix.
The forecast for metro Phoenix calls for a 40% chance of rain Tuesday before drying out, which means this dust storm engulfs Arizona incident might be followed by more challenging weather.
The Bigger Picture
This latest event where a dust storm engulfs Arizona comes after a weekend dust storm in Nevada blew through Burning Man, an annual arts gathering about 120 miles from Reno. It seems like these extreme weather events are becoming more common across the desert Southwest.
The Southwest monsoon pattern isn’t quite done yet, and neither is the triple-digit heat. Phoenix picked up just under a quarter inch of rain with these storms Monday, and the area has a continued chance of thunderstorms through Wednesday.
For people living in Arizona, events like these are a reminder of just how powerful nature can be in the desert. When a dust storm engulfs Arizona communities, it’s not just an inconvenience – it can be genuinely dangerous and life-changing for thousands of people.
The good news? Arizona residents are pretty tough and used to dealing with extreme weather. The cleanup is already underway, power is being restored, and life in the desert will go on – until the next haboob decides to pay a visit.
