Intense Time-Lapse Video Shows Dust Storm Engulf Arizona State Football Stadium Into Complete Darkness
A haboob overtook the home of the Sun Devils in an instant.
A ginormous dust storm, known as a haboob, took over Phoenix and the city's surrounding areas on Monday, including the home of the Arizona State Sun Devils.
As common as dust storms may be in Arizona during the monsoon season, images and videos showing a wall of dust completely overtaking areas within seconds aren't exactly settling.
A time-lapse video shared by Arizona State football's official X account showed just how fast and intense haboobs can move. At a moment's notice, Mountain American Stadium in Tempe was completely engulfed by the dust storm, entirely blocking out the sunlight.
While Arizona State made light of the situation, the matter did have some serious effects on folks and businesses in the area on Monday.
Over 15,000 people reportedly lost power in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and Tempe, and flights were temporarily grounded at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport as the storm rolled through.
As for the unique name of these dust storms, haboob is the Arabic word for blow, which I guess checks out, given that debris and dust is blown up into the area and travels across wide areas during the storm.
The American Meteorology Society defines a haboob as, "an intense sandstorm or dust storm with sand and/or dust often lofted to heights as high as 1500 m (~5000 feet), resulting in a "wall of dust" along the leading edge of the haboob that can be visually stunning."
During Arizona's monsoon season, which runs from June 15 to September 30, it's common for cold air to come out of a collapsing thunderstorm and rush downward at a rapid rate, which results in dust, sand, and presumably plenty of garbage being thrown up into the air.
Arizona State plays host to Northern Arizona on Saturday night, and while another haboob forming during the game would be less than ideal, it's fair to say both programs wouldn't be caught off guard.