WASHINGTON: A massive wall of dust swept through Phoenix, plunging the southwest US city into near-total darkness, grounding flights, forcing motorists off the road and cutting power to thousands.

The giant haboob, which occurred on Monday, is a common phenomenon during the arid region’s monsoon season.

Haboobs form when a thunderstorm collapses, sending cold air crashing onto the desert floor, where it scoops up dust into a towering wall of sediment that can stretch for miles and rise thousands of feet.

The dust storm was followed by heavy rain and lightning that triggered flash flood warnings. “This monsoon dust isn’t messing around...Please be safe!” the City of Phoenix warned on X, sharing a photo of the dust wall looming over planes, a sight reminiscent of a science-fiction film.

Local media said the weather tore part of the roof off Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

The Trico Electric Co-op reported 7,200 customers without power, while police in the town of Gilbert said downed trees and traffic light outages created hazardous driving conditions.

The dust reduced visibility to just dozens of feet on the I-10 highway, while another busy roadway, the I-17, was partly closed due to flooding, according to the Arizona Department of Transport.

In all, more than two million people were affected, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), which advises motorists caught in haboobs to pull over and turn off their lights so other drivers don’t mistake them for moving vehicles and crash into them.

The NWS forecasts isolated thunderstorms from Tuesday through Thursday, before a return to dry conditions on Friday.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025