WE MISSED THE HABOOB
By one day.  But we got the residual effects when we returned to AZ.

If you haven't seen the pictures, the footage, the NBC report with Brian Williams then you should check it out.  It is simply unbelievable.

We've had dust storms.  In fact, we get little dust busters or mini-dust tornadoes all the time.  But nothing compares to this haboob.  Taken from Arabic where haboobs are more common, it means fiery wind.  I'm not sure where the fire part comes in.  I'd call it a dust wall.

Had we been privy to the storm, I think I would have feared cataclysmic results.  Imagine a 100-mile wide, one mile high rain storm.  Now substitute dust/dirt/sand, and I haven't addressed how thick it was to blot out the sun completely.  There was a Little Rascals' episode where the gang was camping out and an lunar eclipse happened when they were surrounded by wild Borneo jungle tribesmen that scared the snot out of me as a kid.  Much more so than the Abominable Snowman, Rodan, Godzilla, or The Blob.  I watched a ton of Rascals and I only saw that show one time.  The strange thing is, I really liked it.  I guess all kids like a good scare in the safety of their living room.

But that's what I would have felt had I experienced the haboob. Only worse.  I'm not sure my living room would have been enough of a sanctuary. And the clean up afterwards was bad enough.  When comes such another?  Never, I hope.