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Wild video shows monstrous wind-driven dust storm enveloping farming community outside San Diego – road visibility reduced to zero and area paralyzed for hours
- Southern California residents were told on Thursday to seek shelter when a large cloud of dust known as a haboob descended upon the area.
- The cloud was created thanks to a major thunderstorm in Yuma, Arizona, which created large outflow winds that pushed the dust toward California
- A haboob is a type of intense dust storm that moves thanks to an atmospheric gravitational flow, they usually occur in desert environments
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The National Weather Service issued a dust storm warning in San Diego County Thursday afternoon.
The warning was in effect from approximately 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time for the communities along Interstate 8, which connects Yuma, Arizona to San Diego.
The storm resulted in zero visibility. This prompted the NWS to warn of attempts to drive through the storm. The warning also affected nearby Riverside County.
A camera set up by the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District at Monument Peak showed the cloud moving toward the town of Ocotillo.
The NWS warning read, in part, “Visibility can drop to a mile in blowing dust and sand and drop briefly to less than a quarter of a mile in local areas.”
It added: “Be alert to rapidly changing weather conditions.”
Meteorologist Adam Roser said the storm is due to a thunderstorm in Yuma, Arizona. That storm triggered ‘strong outflow winds’ that swept into California, reports the Desert Post.
A witness to the cloud, La Quinta High School coach Matt Ward, told the paper, “It was crazy. Everyone said the same thing when it happened, it was like we were in a movie.’
A cloud of dust overtakes a neighborhood outside San Diego
The NWS warning read in part: ‘Visibility could drop to a mile in blown-up dust and sand and briefly drop to less than a quarter of a mile in local areas’
The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration says haboobs last about 10-30 minutes
Adam Roser said, “It’s definitely an interesting event.” He described the cloud as a ‘haboob’. He advised people to stay indoors until the cloud clears.
A haboob is a type of intense dust storm that moves thanks to an atmospheric gravitational flow. They usually occur in arid desert areas.
The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration says haboobs last about 10-30 minutes. The walls of fabric created by the front can be as high as 10,000 feet.
The word comes from the Arabic word haab, which means wind.
According to the NWS, wind speeds in the San Diego County area were about 15 to 20 mph with gusts reaching 30 mph.
Weather experts say haboobs are common during the summer monsoon season in the southwestern United States.
That’s when thunderstorms produce downdrafts that can throw up dry, loose sand on the desert floor, creating a wall of dust that travels out and covers a much larger area than the thunderstorm itself, according to senior meteorologist Jim Andrews at Accuweather.com.