We flew ahead of a dust storm (haboob) over Phoenix on August 11, 2015. Here are the highlights from a package Bruce shared.
These dust storms usually crop up during the monsoon season, which happens June-September in Arizona.
The storms typically originate south of Phoenix and blow northward. As the storms build, they drive heavy wind ahead of them, which picks up dust – a LOT of dust.
Sometimes these monsoon dust storms (or haboobs as they are sometimes called) can build to thousands of feet high.
It is pretty awe-inspiring to look out of a helicopter that is 800 feet above the ground and see a massive wall of dust that is still looming thousands of feet above you.