Driving into an Arizona Desert Dust Storm

Here’s a video Nick Tort made of driving into a recent desert dust storm — apparently called a “haboob” after similar storms in the Middle East — in the Chandler area recently.  Although it makes for good footage, I must point out that this really is a dangerous thing to do. 

Those of us who have grown up here have had it drilled into us since we were first able to peek over the steering wheel: “Don’t drive in a dust storm — pull over to the side, as far off the road as you can, and shut off your engine and lights.”  Unfortunately, it seems that most people have either forgotten this safety tip or, having migrated from other parts of the country, may never have heard it.

In the video, you can see a small number of people pulled to the side, but still with lights on.  And when Nick’s car becomes completely enveloped in the storm, you see why it’s so important.  Visibility drops to practically nothing, the only thing visible in the film is the occasional light and sometimes the road immediately in front of his vehicle.

But with all that said, it is still a pretty cool piece of video:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*