A haboob swept through the Coachella Valley on Thursday evening, bringing intense winds and blowing sand that suddenly cloaked areas in dust as the storm made its way west.
High winds moved into the Thermal area at around 5:45 p.m. and arrived in Palm Springs about half an hour later. By 7 p.m., the winds and worst of the dust had subsided in much of the valley.
While the storm downed trees — and surely brought pain to any valley residents who happened to leave their car windows open — there did not appear to have been significant or widespread damage.
The storm was the result of a strong thunderstorm in the Yuma, Arizona, area that created strong outflow winds that pushed west into Riverside and San Diego counties.
What is a haboob?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes a haboob as a short-lived event in which the front of a traveling thunderstorm cell drags dust and debris.
They usually last 10 to 30 minutes and can create walls of dust as high as 10,000 feet, or nearly two miles. The name "haboob" is derived from the Arabic word haab, which means wind or blow.
And why do only some storms create haboobs? National Weather Service Meteorologist Mark Moede said it's all about instability in the atmosphere.
"The more instability available in the atmosphere for thunderstorms to grow strong and tall, the better the chances for very strong dust storms to roll across the desert," he said Friday. "
"But when they do and reach the strength it reached yesterday evening, the impacts are pretty impressive."