I have family in the area and I go to Phoenix occasionally for work. Nothing steady - just some contract fill-in/substitute stuff when I can get it. Haboobs actually show up on the radar. Phoenix will get some blowing sand/dust occasionally, but when a large cell of thunderstorms is brewing, that is when the potential for the wall of dust is greatest. They were supposed to have a smaller one last night. When I went out to the car Wednesday morning, it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off and we were in the middle of a nuclear winter. No noise, just a covering of dust on everything. The following gives a little more information.
Massive haboob duststorm sweeps through PhoenixPosted by: JeffMasters, 3:15 PM GMT on July 06, 2011
A massive desert sandstorm roared through Phoenix, Arizona last night, dropping visibilities to near zero and coating surfaces with a gritty later of dust and sand. The phenomenon, known as a haboob, occurs when the outflow from a thunderstorm kicks up desert dust. Last night's haboob was due to a large complex of thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system (MCS) that developed to the east of Phoenix. As the outflow from the MCS hit the ground, large quantities of sand and dust became suspended in the air by 50 - 60 mph winds. The amount of dust was much greater than is usual for one of these storms, due to the large size of the thunderstorm complex, and the extreme drought conditions the region has been experiencing. As the haboob hit Phoenix, winds gusted to 53 mph at Sky Harbor International Airport, and the airport was forced to shut down for 45 minutes due to visibilities that fell as low as 1/8 mile. The airport received only 0.04" of rain from the storm, but large regions of Southern Arizona got 1 - 2 inches of rain overnight due to the monsoon thunderstorms. The Southwest U.S.'s annual monsoon season has kicked into gear this week, aided by moisture from Tropical Storm Arlene. The welcome rains the monsoon's thunderstorms will bring to the region should greatly aid the efforts of firefighters attempting to control the fires of the Southwest's worst fire season in recorded history. The latest 5-day precipitation forecast from NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center is calling for widespread areas of 1/2 - 1 inch of rain over Arizona and western New Mexico this week.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1840
The lines at the car washes have been extremely long. Dust storms are big business for them and air conditioner repair people. Supposedly, you have to have some kind of special solution/treatment to use to clean the compressor/coils/fan outside. If you just hose them off, the dust will turn to mud, cake-up inside of the box and cause damage to the machine. We alway hosed them off every week when I lived there before - especially durring the summer when it is the hottest. The A/C does not have to work as hard when it is clean and it cools better. Anything to make a buck and drum up some business. The newest rumor is that there were UFOs seen in the dust storm as it approached the city. I will have to see if anyone posted any 'proof' of that little tidbit. If they are going to visit, please go to Washington D.C. and ask to see the President. Why would you come all this way to hide and play around in some airborne dust? Just like in previous visits, they always go to rural Montana or out in the sticks somewhere. Simply park your spacecraft in Times Square, get out and say hello - or abduct us or do whatever your plan is. The whole thing makes no sense to me. To each their own, I guess.
