HPPR Environment

Haboob blasts across the High Plains

High Plains Public Radio

Published March 18, 2014 at 12:00 AM CDT

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NASA’s Terra satellite spied these streams of dust blowing south across Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico on March 11, 2014. Look for the streamers of pale, sand-colored stuff south of the big cloud bank.";

NASA

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This photo was posted to Twitter. It was taken from an airplane flying near Amarillo, Texas, apparently at 38,000 feet.

discovermagazine.com

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The haboob hits Clovis, N.M.

discovermagazine.com

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Surface winds associated with the cold front blast to the south across a large part of the U.S. midsection on March 11, as seen in this visualization based on data from supercomputer forecast models.

earth.nullschool.net

A towering wall of dust known as a haboob pushed across a big swath of the High Plains last Tuesday said an article from Discover.

The dust streamed out of Colorado and Kansas into Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

Winds gusting to almost 60 miles per hour reduced visibility to almost zero in southwestern Kansas.

The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies described a report of severe turbulence at 45,000 feet over the region, possibly caused by a passing cold front.

The haboob has two causes: the cold front and the region’s exceptional drought conditions.