A strong storm launched a tall wall of dust stretching through the Phoenix metro on Monday, which narrowed the sky, baptizing drivers, and expelling flights at one of the busiest airports in the country.
Bernie Bokin Hesman was leading her son and daughter, between the ages of 9 and 11, from school when the storm, known as Hippop, arrived late in the afternoon in the city of Arizona, about 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Phoenix.
She had to pull quickly as her car was flooded. “I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face if I put my hand outside,” she said.
A giant dirt storm is approaching the Phoenix metro area, where the monsoon storm pushes dust to the air, on Monday, August 25, 2025, in Phoenix.
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Boykin Hitesman said it could taste dust and feel the strong winds that shake her car until about 15 minutes have finally passed.
“I was tense,” she said. “My children were really afraid, so I was trying to be brave for them.”
Haboob is a dust storm pushed by the winds that produce it in front of the weather or a thunderstorm and usually occurs in flat arid areas. The heavy rains and winds were followed on Monday, the delay of flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and caused some damage to the station’s roof.
“The teams determine leaks and try to clean water as they were collected in the passenger areas,” said Heather Shellbrak, deputy director of aviation at the airport in public relations.
More than 15,000 people lost power, most of them in Marikuba Province, including Phoenix, according to Poweroutage.us.
Richard Feli, a retired university professor living in Gilbert, said that the dirt storm caused the influence of trees and knocked on the nutrients of birds on the ground. He said that soft dust found its way through “every small crack and space” in his home.
“Part of the wind storm, I am happy that it has gone,” he said. “You look at Haboobs’s pictures and they are an amazing natural phenomenon. It is somewhat beautiful in its own way.”
Mark Omali, meteorological specialist in national weather service in Phoenix, said Phoenix was more dry than usual during the seasonal wind season, while parts of southeast and north in the center of Arizona suffer from good rains.
“But this is typical for monsoon winds, beating and very lost,” he said.
Omali said that the Fennex Metro expectations call for a chance of 40 % rains on Tuesday before drying.
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