Mother Nature turns tables on storm chaser forced to outrun haboob
Violent downdrafts and outflow from storms in the region churned up winds gusting to 70 mph. Those winds picked up topsoil from the surrounding land, creating a wall of dust.
Monster haboob chases storm chaser
Watch a storm chaser speed away from a Texas haboob.
Storm chaser Marcus Davis is used to hunting the worst weather nature has to offer. On Monday, Mother Nature turned the tables on him.
Davis had to hit the gas to escape being devoured by a giant dust storm called a haboob.
While the video doesn't include any sound, it shows Davis' effort to outrun the wall of dust moving through Texas farmland. The curtain of dirt can be seen engulfing a wind turbine as it closed in on his car. He finally had to put the camera down to navigate and avoid being sandblasted.
"It’s about to rain mud," tweeted another Texan who also recorded a video of the advancing dust. He, at least, had his home for refuge.
The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement because of the storm that caused the haboob and asked everyone to "seek shelter in a sturdy structure."
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Violent downdrafts and outflow from storms in the region churned up winds gusting to 70 mph. Those winds picked up topsoil from the surrounding land, creating a wall of dust. The haboob then traveled ahead of the thunderstorms.
"Heavy rains or a collapsing thunderstorm can bring an enormous rush of cold air racing toward the ground," wrote Scott Sistek, a meteorologist on FOX Weather's digital team. "As the air hits the ground, it rushes outward -- think of what happens when you drop a water balloon, and it explodes on the ground sending water rushing out in all directions, only in this case, it's air rushing outward."
WHAT IS A HABOOB? IT'S JUST DUST IN THE WIND
A dust storm engulfing a neighborhood in Brazil.
(ANDREY LUZ/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The ominous phenomenon obscured the sun in the town of Tahoka, Texas. The heavy rains, thunder and lightning may have been a relief once overhead. At least the rain washed the dirt out of the air, off cars and off windows. As the Texas man remarked, though, it did rain mud initially.
"A dust storm usually arrives suddenly in the form of an advancing wall of dust and debris which may be miles long and several thousand feet high," the NWS wrote on their website. "Blinding, choking dust can quickly reduce visibility, causing accidents that may involve chain collisions, creating massive pileups."
The darkened skies usually last several minutes before moving away.
Here is what a driver sees while driving through a haboob.
Visibility drops to near zero as this Colorado driver navigates a haboob.
(Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The haboob gets its name from the Arabic word for wind, "habb," according to Britannica.com. Haboobs are very common in the Arabian Peninsula and Saharan desert.
The giant dust cloud can be seen from space. Take a look at a satellite image of a haboob in Nevada.
Satellite imagery shows a dust storm blowing out of Nevada.
(NOAA)
The FOX Weather app is a great resource that can be used to alert you of any watches or warnings issued for your area. The free FOX Weather livestream is also available 24/7 on the website and app and on your favorite streaming platform. The FOX Weather Update podcast also provides weather information for the entire country.