Haboob! Desert Brings its B-Squad; Local Media Fascinated Nonetheless

Last night's Haboob wasn't quite as spectacular as the one that swept through the Valley earlier this month, but that didn't stop local media outlets from turning their respective websites into Haboob-central as soon as the storm hit.

The July 5, storm was described by experts from the National Weather Service as one of the most "significant" they'd ever seen. It towered over the Valley at heights of up to 6,000 feet.

Last night's storm wasn't quite as impressive, reaching heights of about 4,000 feet -- but that didn't stop local media from going wild, filling their websites with reader photos and accounts of the storm. ABC 15 even ran a story about the history of the word "Haboob."

It might seem like overkill to get so worked up over the desert's B-squad of dust storms -- considering how incredible the last storm was -- but there's a reason: Haboobs equal web hits are friggin awesome.

See our own collection of reader photos here. See the homepages of some Valley media outlets, as they appeared when the Haboob hit, after the jump.








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James King
Contact: James King

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