Haboob Hubbub

I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, a place that is wonderful for eight months of the year and not so good for four months.  During the summer we experience temperatures up to 123 degrees F and lows in the 90s, sometimes not dropping below 100.  Last night is 105 degrees here at midnight.

We are also the recipients of Monsoons, Sciroccos and Haboobs.  El Nino is a current down Mexico way that decides to reverse itself for a period of the year, causing weather disturbances in Arizona.  Most of these storms do not provide moisture, as it is too dry and hot for the rain to reach the ground.  Instead, we get strong winds, lightning and dust storms.

The dust storms, which have been hitting about once per week, blow other stuff, sand blast anything left outside and mess up our swimming pool filters…  I have a relative in Massachusetts – Hey Uncle Dick! – that did not realize we suffer haboobs.  After the photos below, I have excerpted the listing on Haboob from Wikipedia.  Our haboobs feature dust clouds up to one mile high with winds up to 75 mph.  Sometimes they drop the temperature, but other times they raise the humidity while temperatures remain over 100.  Basically, June, July and August are not the best times to visit…

Wikipedia…

A haboob (Arabic: هَبوب‎ habūb “blasting/drafting”) is a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs occur regularly in arid regions throughout the world.

They have been observed in the Sahara desert (typically Sudan, where they were named and described), as well as across the Arabian Peninsula, throughout Kuwait, and in the most arid regions of Iraq.^[1] African haboobs result from the northward summer shift of the inter-tropical front into North Africa, bringing moisture from the Gulf of Guinea. Haboob winds in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Kuwait, and North America are frequently created by the collapse of a thunderstorm, while haboobs in Australia may be frequently associated with cold fronts. The deserts of Central Australia, especially near Alice Springs, are particularly prone to haboobs, with sand and debris reaching several kilometers into the sky and leaving up to a foot of sand in the haboob’s path.

The arid and semiarid regions of North America—in fact, any dry region—may experience haboobs. In North America the most common terms for these events is either dust storm or sandstorm. In the U.S., they frequently occur in the deserts of Arizona, including around the cities of Yuma and Phoenix^[2][3]—and in New Mexico and Texas.^[4] During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm’s travel, and they move from all directions into the thunderstorm. When the storm collapses and begins to release precipitation, wind directions reverse, gusting outward from the storm and generally gusting the strongest in the direction of the storm’s travel.^[5][6][7]

When this downdraft of cold air, or downburst, reaches the ground, it blows dry, loose silt and clay (collectively, dust) up from the desert, creating a wall of sediment that precedes the storm cloud. This wall of dust can be up to 100 km (62 mi) wide and several kilometers in elevation. At their strongest, haboob winds often travel at 35–100 km/h (22–62 mph), and they may approach with little or no warning. Often rain does not appear at ground level as it evaporates in the hot, dry air (a phenomenon known as virga). The evaporation cools the rushing air even further and accelerates it. Occasionally, when the rain does persist, it can contain a considerable quantity of dust. Severe cases are called mud storms. Eye and respiratory system protection are advisable for anyone who must be outside during a haboob. Moving to shelter is highly desirable during a strong event.