TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - The massive dust storm that struck Phoenix on Tuesday began in Tucson.
A severe storm that moved across Tucson Tuesday afternoon produced wind gusts estimated at 70 MPH. These winds moved to the northwest at around 30 to 40 MPH, picking up dust and dirt from the desert and farm fields of Pinal County. The combination of abandoned or retired farmland in Pinal County, along with on-going drought, meant the land was very dry and lacked vegetation that would keep the soil in place.
The dust storm turned into a 'haboob' - the informal name for a massive dust storm. Haboob is an Arabic word. Massive dust storms are fairly common in the Middle East and Sahara.
The Phoenix National Weather Service office released this detailed report on the storm. Radar actually picked up the dust storm as it moved through Pinal County towards Phoenix. Below is a radar image taken at 7:45 PM showing the original severe storm now east of Tucson and the wall of dust approaching Phoenix.
Radar sends out pulses of radio waves which then bounce off any object in their path. Part of that radio wave then returns to an antennae or dish located near the radar. The computer generated image produced of that radio wave returned to the antennae shows the speed and movement of the particles. In this case the object was the dust particles suspended in the air.
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