haboobs
Walls of dust
Haboobs are intense dust storms that occur when a collapsing thunderstorm drives a wall of sand and debris across arid terrain.
Common in the American Southwest, the Sahara, and the Middle East, they can reduce visibility to near zero and last from minutes to hours: A haboob rolled across Phoenix, turning the sky brown.
The term comes from Arabic.
Wind-carried soil phenomenon
- sandstormWind-driven desert grit
- thunderstormViolent weather with lightning
- outflowFluid exiting a system
- downdraftDescending air current
convection · monsoon · visibility · atmospheric · wind · squall · microburst · precipitation
Painfully intense light
- chokingBlocked airway condition
- respiratoryRelated to breathing organs
- zero visibilityNo sight possible
- airport closureHalting of aviation operations
health warning · allergies · asthma · abrasion · power outage · flight delay · road closure · shelter
dust storm
Wind-carried soil phenomenon
- sandstormWind-driven desert grit
- thunderstormViolent weather with lightning
- outflowFluid exiting a system
downdraft · convection · monsoon · visibility · atmospheric · wind · squall · microburst · precipitation · cumulonimbus
blinding
Painfully intense light
- chokingBlocked airway condition
- respiratoryRelated to breathing organs
- zero visibilityNo sight possible
airport closure · health warning · allergies · asthma · abrasion · power outage · flight delay · road closure · shelter · evacuation
towering
Of imposing height
- apocalypticPertaining to ultimate devastation
- wallVertical enclosing structure
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
rolling · massive · orange · brown · red · churning · billowing · advancing · dramatic · eerie
Sahara
Largest hot desert
Khartoum · Middle East · Australia · Mojave · Sonoran · Arabian Peninsula · Gobi · Sahel · Atacama · Namib
haboobsgentle breeze
Mild movement of air
calm · zephyr · still air · doldrums · light breeze
haboobsclear skies
Absence of cloud cover
clean air · unpolluted air · blue sky · blue skies · fresh air
haboobsdead calm
Complete absence of wind
stillness · fair weather · settled weather · tranquility · becalmed