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| The haboob entering a neighborhood near Amarillo. Photo by Jaci Herrera via Twitter. |
Haboobs are walls of dust that roar across usually desert landscapes. They form when strong downdrafts and wind gusts from thunderstorms stir up the dust.
The walls of dust are amazing to look at, but also dangerous. They cut down on visibility on highways, often leading to fatal crashes.
And who wants to clean up after all that dust settles over everything?
Haboobs are common in places like Saudi Arabia and Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona frequently gets them.
They're not as common elsewhere. But yesterday, Lubbock, Texas had an absolutely spectacular haboob.
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| The haboob crashing through the Texas panhandle near Lubbock, Texas yesterday. Photo by Joe Scott, via Twitter. |
The outflow from these storms created this spectacular haboob. No injuries were reported, even as visibility fell to zero on Interstate 27 north of Lubbock.
The National Weather Service issued dust storm warnings for a long strip of the Texas panhandle as the haboob progressed eastward. Videos are below.
On the bright side, after the haboob moved through, the thunderstorms that caused them also moved through, dumping rain and washing some of the dust away.
Haboobs are rare in Lubbock, but they do happen. Another spectacular one occurred there in October, 2011.
It's been a wild week in the Texas panhandle. Over the weekend, another, wetter thunderstorm caused extensive flash flooding in Amarillo, about 120 miles north of Lubbock.
In the videos below, you can see the dark parent thunderstorm behind the haboob. Some clouds along the gust front seem to be interacting with the haboob.
The National Weather Service office in Lubbock issued this time lapse video of the haboob.
The haboob came through during television station KAMC's newscast. They fortunately kept the view from their sky tower camera on, interrupting the normal news program:
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