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Bernae Boykin Hitesman was driving her son and daughter, ages 9
and 11, home from school when the storm, known as a haboob,
arrived late in the afternoon in Arizona City, about 60 miles
(95 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix.
She had to quickly pull over as the storm engulfed her car. “I
couldn’t see my hand in front of my face if I put my hand
outside,” she said.
Boykin Hitesman said she could taste the dust and feel the
strong wind rattling her car until it finally passed about 15
minutes later.
“I was nervous,” she said. “My kids were really, really scared,
so I was trying to be brave for them.”
A haboob is a dust storm pushed by the wind produced by a
weather front or thunderstorm and typically occurs in flat, arid
areas. Heavy rain and wind followed Monday's haboob, delaying
flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and causing
some damage to a terminal roof.
“Crews have been identifying leaks and attempting to clean up
water where it has collected in passenger areas,” Heather
Shelbrack, the airport’s deputy aviation director for public
relations, said in an email.
More than 15,000 people lost power, most in Maricopa County,
which includes Phoenix, according to PowerOutage.us.
Richard Filley, a retired university professor who lives in
Gilbert, said the dust storm caused the trees to sway and
knocked bird feeders to the ground. Fine dust found its way
through “every little crack and space” into his house, he said.
“The windstorm part of it, I’m glad it’s gone,” he said. “You
look at the photos of haboobs and they are a spectacular natural
phenomenon. They are kind of beautiful in their own way.”
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, said Mark O’Malley, a meteorologist with
the National Weather Service in Phoenix.
“But that’s typical for a monsoon, very hit and miss,” he said.
The forecast for metro Phoenix calls for a 40% chance of rain
Tuesday before drying out, O’Malley said.
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Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Felicia
Fonseca contributed reporting from Flagstaff, Arizona.
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