A haboob is an intense thunderstorm-driven dust storm that forms when strong downdrafts lift dust and sand into the air, creating a dense advancing wall that can reduce visibility to nearly zero.
Overview of Haboobs
Haboobs occur mainly in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide, including the Sahara and the southwestern United States, and are characterised by a dramatic, sometimes sudden, wall of dust that can be kilometres high and travel rapidly across the landscape.
How a Haboob Forms
When a thunderstorm collapses, evaporative cooling produces a strong downdraft or outflow boundary that blasts outward at the surface, picking up loose sediment via saltation and lofting it into a front that precedes the storm.
Hazards and Impacts
Haboobs can cut visibility to near zero, disrupt transportation, cause large chain‑reaction traffic accidents, damage infrastructure, and produce health risks such as respiratory irritation from fine particulates.
Practical Safety Tips
If you encounter a haboob while driving, pull off the road as far as possible, turn off lights, set the emergency brake, and stay inside the vehicle until visibility returns; if on foot, seek shelter and protect eyes and airways from dust.
Quick Related Facts
- Trigger: thunderstorm downdrafts and outflow winds
- Typical regions: deserts and semi‑arid areas such as the Sahara and southwestern US
- Scale: walls up to thousands of metres high and hundreds of kilometres long in extreme cases
- Primary hazards: zero visibility, respiratory problems, transport disruption