Planes grounded, visibility reduced as massive dust storm hits Arizona

A massive dust storm, known as a “haboob,” swept across Arizona’s Pinal County on Monday, August 25, clogging skies and reducing visibility. The National Weather Service warned drivers to pull over if conditions worsened. Haboobs are common during the Southwest’s summer monsoon season, triggered when thunderstorm downdrafts lift loose desert sand into towering walls of dust that spread far beyond the storm itself.