These routine but menacing dust storms, also called
haboobs, roll in with the fury of a genie let out of a bottle.
The most intense
haboobs can extend up to 10,000 feet into the atmosphere and can travel at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour).
Texans, miffed by the Weather Service's use of "
haboob," took to the comments section.
There are several types of damaging wind storms, including tornadoes, downbursts, microbursts, gust fronts, derechos and
haboobs.
That was two-thirds the 130 kph (80 mph) winds that battered Tehran in Monday's
haboob.
WARM WELCOME: Community members in Tartora, Darfur where Practical Action is helping to construct an earth embankment to make sure as little rainwater is lost from the productive soil and (right) Halima Ahmed Mohamed Eltayib in the community forest at Kobi Algadi in Darfur, which Practical Action helped villagers plant ALL SMILES: Ella Jolly with Practical Action project worker Amel Ibrahim DUST DANGER: The sand storm (
haboob) as it hits the UN camp in Korma
Phoenix's giant
haboob was an estimated 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) high and moved at 130 km (80 mi) per hour!
In 1995 a
haboob blew across Interstate 10, reduced visibility to a few feet and caused four accidents involving 24 vehicles that resulted in 10 fatalities and 20 injuries.
The dust storm, also known as a
haboob in Arabic and around Arizona, formed in Pinal County and headed north-east for Phoenix.
I might even stretch to the
haboob, great dust storms which march from the deserts into the towns and eat away at the buildings, returning them to powder.
Given the extensive rainy season as one moves southward and the debilitating sandstorms (
haboob) in the north, transportation over land is haphazard at best, in Darfur as in the entire country.
Find out what went right, what went wrong, and the deleterious effects of the
haboob.