Massive dust wall moves through Phoenix area
View of the haboob as it made its way towards Phoenix July 5.
Photographer: Tony Aguilera
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Posted: 07/05/2011
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By: Chris Kline - By: Katie Fisher
PHOENIX - A massive dust wall moved through Phoenix Tuesday night, reducing visibility to zero and kicking up dangerously high winds.
The wall of dust boasted sustained winds of around 60 miles per hour, close to hurricane force. At one point, wind gusts hit 81mph in a Phoenix suburb.
The dust wall - commonly called a haboob - is a common sight in Phoenix, but this wall was one for the record books. The cloud stretched 60 miles wide, and turned the sunny skies of Phoenix black, literally.
Long-time residents said they have never seen anything like this hit the Arizona capital.
How bad was it? Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Scott Walker said they received nearly 1,000 emergency phone calls between 5 and 7 p.m.
The above pictures tell the story best. The dust cloud engulfed everything it hit, and the clean up is likely to take weeks.
The powerful gusts knocked down power poles in parts of the East Valley, and led to outages affecting thousands of customers .
Check current weather conditions
The haboob made its way to the Valley from Casa Grande, where viewers first spotted the huge dust wall encroaching on neighborhoods during the 6pm hour.
ABC15 viewers across the Valley also saw the dust storm moving towards their areas and creating blackout-like conditions. See some of their videos .
Have photos of Arizona weather? Send them to MyAZNews@abc15.com .
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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