Dust Storm in Central Deserts, Arizona

Intense thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours to the south of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The strong winds spread to the north and across portions of northwest Pinal county, stirring up copious amounts of dust and creating dust storm conditions. A trained weather spotter 8 miles southwest of the town of Maricopa reported visibility less than one quarter of a mile at 1729MST. Another weather spotter 1 mile southwest of Coolidge reported a similar visibility. The dense blowing dust made for very hazardous driving conditions during the Monday rush hour. A Dust Storm Warning was issued for the area at 1712MST and it continued through 1900MST.

The atmosphere across south central Arizona was very moist and unstable on August 26th, due in part to lingering moisture that had spread in earlier from former tropical storm Ivo. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms developed across much of south central Arizona during the middle of the afternoon, and they continued into the evening hours. The storms produced a wide variety of weather which affected much of Maricopa and northwest Pinal counties, including the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Flooding and flash flooding, strong and damaging thunderstorm outflow winds, dust storms and hail were all produced at one time or another.