What is a haboob? Dust storm stuns El Paso County with towering wall of dust
Sightings of a large wall of dust moving through El Paso happened over the weekend, with dozens sharing video and photos of a hazy, ominous skyline.
The intense dust storm, also known as a haboob, arrived in the region just before 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 15, according to satellite images released by the National Weather Service. The winds triggered a dust storm advisory in the evening hours due to reduced visibility of less than a mile.
Many El Pasoans captured the haboob, including Ray Chiarello, who shared a panoramic photo shot by his drone as the dust passed over the Franklin Mountains.
While dust storms and haboobs can happen anywhere, they are most common in the Southwest, according to the National Weather Service.
Here's what you need to know about haboobs and what to do if you encounter one.
Haboobs occur as a result of thunderstorm outflow winds, according to the National Weather Service. Strong thunderstorm winds can start a dust storm that can drastically reduce visibility.
A haboob, derived from the Arabic term "habb," which means to blow, was originally used to describe "wind or sandstorms" that occurred in central and northern Sudan, which averages about 24 a year, according to the American Meteorological Society.
Now, it is typically used to describe "any" intense wind-driven sandstorm or dust storm that can loft sand or dust thousands of feet into the air, creating a visually stunning "wall of dust," according to the American Meteorological Society.
Here are some tips for driving through dust storms, courtesy of the National Weather Service.
If dense dust is observed blowing across or approaching a roadway, pull your vehicle off the pavement as far as possible, stop, turn off lights, set the emergency brake, and take your foot off the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated.
Avoid entering the dust storm area if possible.
If you can't pull off the roadway, proceed at a speed suitable for visibility, turn on lights and sound horn occasionally. Use the painted center line to help guide you. Look for a safe place to pull off the roadway.
Never stop on the traveled portion of the roadway.
USA Today contributed to this report.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on Twitter; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.
More: Monsoon season expected to be 'normal,' but burn scars could trigger flooding in Ruidoso
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: What is a haboob? Dust storm stuns El Paso with towering wall of dust
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Celebrity ship drifts from pier in 'sudden wind squall' during Alaska cruise
Strong winds caused a Celebrity Cruises ship to break from its moorings in Alaska this week. The incident occurred while Celebrity Edge was visiting the capital city of Juneau on June 16. Video footage posted to YouTube shows the vessel floating away from the dock as heavy rain rolls in. 'The ship drifted from the pier due to a sudden wind squall,' a spokesperson for the cruise line's parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. 'Our Captain maneuvered the ship back to the dock where passengers and crew boarded to resume the scheduled itinerary.' There were no injuries, damage to the ship or impacts to its itinerary. Wind speeds in Juneau increased accompanied by rain in the afternoon, with gusts of 30 to 35 miles per hour between 3:30 and 4 p.m., according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill. 'The wind trends show a ramp up period from a sustained wind of 5 mph at 2:05 p.m. to a sustained wind of 26 mph and gust to 35 mph at 3:30 p.m., and an abrupt wind shift from a southwest direction to an east to southeast direction,' he told USA TODAY in an email. 'So, the squall brought with it steadily increasing winds and a sharp change in wind direction.' Skies later cleared and the wind relaxed. Celebrity Edge is currently sailing a week-long Alaska cruise that departed from Seattle on June 13, according to CruiseMapper. While those incidents are relatively rare, it's not the only one of its kind in recent years. Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Epic ship separated from the pier amid strong winds in Catania, Sicily in late May, causing a guest to fall from the gangway into the water. Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Magic also hit a pier in Jamaica during windy weather in February 2024. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Strong winds cause cruise ship to break from moorings in Alaska
USA Today
30 minutes ago
- USA Today
'A lifetime type tornado:' Video shows twister whirling next to rainbow
'A lifetime type tornado:' Video shows twister whirling next to rainbow Show Caption Hide Caption Rainbow and twister create unique moment amid tornado warning A large twister was spotted spinning near a rainbow amid a tornado warning in Nebraska. Sometimes worlds, or in this case a major weather event and a meteorological phenomenon, do collide. Connor McCarty and other storm chasers captured footage of a tornado spinning next to a rainbow in an open field near Dickens, an unincorporated community in southwestern Lincoln County, Nebraska on June 16. The twister, which was reportedly on the ground for over half an hour, left behind minimal damage, and no injuries or fatalities were reported in connection with the violently rotating column of air. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office shared photos of the unique sight on Facebook, writing in a post that they were "grateful" to report no injuries. Video by McCarty shows the towering vortex, with the rainbow adding a colorful accent to an otherwise gray, gloomy skyline. "Tornado of the year earlier this evening near Dickens, Nebraska. We were on this cyclic tornadic supercell from the first initial updraft until the weakening process 4 hours later," McCarty wrote in a June 16 X post. "This is a lifetime type tornado for us!" Two tornadoes, including the one captured on video, struck the Dickens area on June 16, according to the National Weather Service. "Tornado initially started as a land spout approximately 4 miles east of Dickens along Highway 23, before becoming a supercellular tornado," according to the National Weather Service. "The tornado slowly tracked south for 3 miles over the next 45 minutes before dissipating 4 miles east-southeast of Dickens." The Dickens tornado, the first tornado, began at 5:04 p.m. local time and ended approximately eight minutes later, while Dickens 2 began at 5:20 p.m. local time and dissipated at 6:05 p.m. local time. Storm chasers took to social media to share images of the phenomenon, including their reactions to the "lifetime type tornado."
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
100 MPH Winds Could Hit Two U.S. States on June 17
The summer months bring warm weather, the opportunity to travel and more. They can also bring in intense weather, and one region of the United States could be dealing with massive winds on Tuesday. The National Weather Service is forecasting severe weather across "parts of the central/southern Plains and lower/mid Missouri Valley." The NWS says that the greatest concentration of this weather system could end up in both Kansas and Oklahoma. "The greatest threat for destructive gusts up to 70-100 mph" exists across both states on Tuesday, putting them in the proverbial eye of the storm. Other weather events that could potentially affect the Plains and Missouri Valley include hail, flash flooding and potentially even tornadoes. Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska are commonly described as "Tornado Alley" due to the amount of twisters that arise between them. 89 tornadoes were reported in Kansas last year, according to data from the NWS. 91 were reported in Oklahoma, making the two states some of the most likely to face tornadoes throughout the year. Texas saw the most tornadoes in 2024 with 169, and they resulted in a total of eight fatalities. June is considered one of the more prominent months for tornadoes throughout various areas of the country. Warmer weather moves in as spring ends, bringing more variance in humidity and other factors. High winds have already been reported across Kansas this week, as a 101 MPH wind gust was felt in Wichita on Monday. The high winds knocked out power for tens of thousands in the area, and disrupted several people's commutes by taking out overhead traffic lights in the process. KOCO 5 meteorologist Jonathan Conder says that northern Oklahoma is under the most severe risk for storms, and notes that severe storms are expected to be spotted near the city of Alva. The risk decreases further into the state, with the northern part of the Oklahoma City metro area with a level two risk, and the southern part of that area under a level one risk. Comparatively, the risk in northern Oklahoma is a level four - among the highest on the scale. With hours expected until storms begin, hopefully there's been enough warning to citizens about the dangers associated with the weather. 100 MPH Winds Could Hit Two U.S. States on June 17 first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 17, 2025
