The haboob that hit the Coachella Valley on Thursday was stronger than most. Here's why
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."
Moede said this haboob was notable in that it had the strength to reach both the western Coachella Valley and the San Diego desert. He said haboobs typically form in western Arizona, as this one did, and move west. But most dissipate before they reach the Coachella Valley.
Haboobs also typically leave lingering dust in the air for just a few hours.
Another way Thursday's was notable, Moede said, is that its strength made the effects linger into Friday afternoon. Weather sensors in Palm Springs and Thermal showed visibility limited to two to five miles because of particulates still in the air.
"It just took this dust and sand and mixed it up in the air several thousand feet, and it's finally now starting to mix up and get back to the way it normally is," Moede said at about 1:30 p.m. Friday.
In the Coachella Valley, visibility on most days is generally around 10 miles, sometimes as much as 25 miles.
Events disrupted
The storm had an impact on several events, including the weekly Thursday night Villagefest in Palm Springs and a junior varsity football game between Palm Springs and La Quinta high schools.
"It was crazy. Everyone said the same thing when it happened: It looked like we were in a movie out there," said Matt Ward, a coach on the La Quinta JV football team.
The game was later called by the referees because of concern about player safety.
During the storm, Thousand Palms clocked a top wind gust of 41 mph at 6:24 p.m.
Moede said haboobs can happen any time of the year but are most common during the monsoon season, which lasts from June to October.
Potential for another haboob
Moede estimated a haboob powerful enough to have a significant impact on the Coachella Valley only happens once every two years and said the occurrence of one does not generally mean that another is likely soon.
However, he said an unstable atmosphere expected over the valley for the next few days could produce scattered thunderstorms, particularly on Sunday and Monday.
"The chances are pretty low, but not zero, that we could have another one of those things coming through in the next, say, five days," he said.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Why haboob that hit Coachella Valley Thursday was so powerful
