Haboob--visuals

[avalen]

for those of you that don't know what a haboob is, here is a link that shows 25 incredible pictures of the
one we had on July 5th. I honestly had never heard of the word until about 3 years ago.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/incredib ... end-haboob

[mitch5252]

..
OMG - that is just downright scary.

Does the dust work its way into your houses and cars?
I would think it would. 'Yuck.

..

[VickieP]

I can't believe all those people just standing around when they can see what's coming! I'd be hurrying inside.

[BirdbyBird]

I am thinking that those could get sand into almost everything.....

[Redetotry]

I experienced a dust storm when I moved to CA in '84. A friend and I were playing Blue Highways and went through a lot of small towns. We started seeing what looked like a fire in the distance and we were headed right into it. We saw a little store with a couple of elderly men sitting out front in rocking chairs so we stopped to ask. One guy just kept rocking and before he answered he took a long pull on his pipe. He said, well that's a dust storm ladies, we're like a DUST storm!! How long do they last, we have to be in Tucson tomorrow. He tells us in a long drawn out drawl, well sometimes they go on for days! At that we thanked them, jumped back in our car and drove on into the storm. It wasn't long before visibility was pretty much zero but before we could pull off of the TWO lane hwy, the car stopped. We were so shocked we looked at each other and my friend who was driving said now what do we do!? I said, well we wait for PC (prince charming) to rescue us of course. At that very moment someone knocked on the drivers side window and there he was, a cute cowboy to the rescue. He was however a bit miffed demanding to know why were stopped in the road & that he almost hit us. As we explained the car had just stopped and we didn't know why and since we both had on contacts were afraid to get out in the dust. He pushed us over to the side of the road with his truck, which wasn't easy since we were towing a U Haul then looked under the hood and took out the air cleaner, beat it on the side of his leg a few times and came back and said he didn't know if it would work or not. I suddenly remembered I had a spare in my trunk that I had argued with my BF about taking. New filter in place the car started right up and he followed us to the next town to be sure we made it. First and hopefully the last experience with a dust storm!

[avalen]

..
OMG - that is just downright scary.

Does the dust work its way into your houses and cars?
I would think it would. 'Yuck.

..

yes, it leaves a very fine silty type of dirt anywhere it can get in. When I worked at the airport, (my first haboob experience)
some guy had a brand new car and left his drivers window open. He needed more than a shovel to get the dirt out. Parking
lot maintenance used snowblades to pile it up and then shovels and wheelbarrows from there. Last they called a bunch
of street sweeper machines to keep going over it until it was all gone.
And for sure, if you drive in it (its like driving in fog) you will need to clean your airfilter.

[BarbaraRose]

Reminds me of photos of the Dust Bowl Days. Some of those storms lasted for many days! Can't even imagine that!

Some of the people in the photos look completely oblivious to the dust cloud looming behind them! Even the golfers don't seem to notice it right across the pond! I would think you wouldn't want to be out in that with dust getting in your hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc!

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

That's living in AZ for ya!!

The reason we haven't heard of Haboobs until a couple years ago, Ava is because we didn't start getting them until then.

We're getting them now because of Climate Change. This and Waaayyy hotter summers!

That's living in AZ for ya

[mizdeb]

OMG!!! Is that what I have to look forward to? Yikes!

[ialwaysneedaroadtrip]

Well, you either get earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or excessive heat/haboobs, depending on what part of the country you're in.
My Dad however, doesn't have any of these problems where he is in Ozarks.

He does have a Redneck problem, though

[cnq50b]

I saw this on my way back from California & didn't even know what it was - until Lyn mentioned it in in a PM.

I was just west of Alburqueque when the winds picked up tremendously. Even the semis were pulling to the shoulder. On the road ahead there appeared to be a huge dust storm blowing across the road. I had wanted to get east of Alburqueue before stopping for the day, but I didn't think I could see well enough to drive thru that dust so I pulled into a Casino/Travel center. Now that I know what it was I'm so glad I did!!!

So nice having my little house on wheels. Sadie & I parked in the RV Casino parking lot, took lots of walks & I even got DQ!!! Enjoyed our safe, free place to stay for the night.

Wish I had known what it was at the time!! it was amazing!

[avalen]

OMG!!! Is that what I have to look forward to? Yikes!

it only happens during monsoon season so your safe workamping this winter.