Dust Storm — Gila Bend, Arizona

2021-07-10 · Gila Bend, Arizona

Event narrative

A photo on social media taken near mile post 118 on I-8 showed a large wall of dust/haboob moving west into the Gila Bend area. Visibility in the blowing dust was estimated less than 1/2 mile. No damage or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

With upper level high pressure centered near Las Vegas, Nevada this promoted increased northeasterly flow through central and southern Arizona. 30-35 kts of 0-6 km bulk shear was analyzed over south-central Arizona under this regime and with 1000-1500 J/kg of MLCAPE, organized strong to severe thunderstorms developed over the Mogollon Rim in the afternoon and spread through the lower deserts of south-central Arizona through the evening hours. Two severe multi-cellular clusters progressed off the high terrain into the lower deserts of Pinal and Maricopa counties and eventually merged together in northwest Pinal county before continuing southwest. The severe storms produced widespread 40+ mph wind gusts with many areas of 60-70 mph gusts. There were numerous toppled trees, downed power lines, damaged roofs, and other infrastructure and property damage as a result of the severe winds. Over 35,000 customers across Phoenix also lost power. The severe winds also produced a dust storm out ahead of the storms with widespread dense blowing dust pushing west through northern Pinal and southwest Maricopa counties. There was also an area of dense blowing dust reported in the North Phoenix foothills with the northern multi-cell cluster. This was the second day in a row with severe winds moving through some of the same areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 975564. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.