A rare dust storm caused a multi-vehicle pileup and shut off power to Central Valley residents Monday.
The so-called ‘haboob’ swept through the valley on Monday afternoon from about 1:30 to 4 p.m., said Emily Wilson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service at Hanford.
Several people were injured in an accident on California 99, and Pacific Gas & Electric reported outages for about 15,000 Fresno county residents as abnormally high winds kicked dust up into a menacing cloud.
“It was unusually dry for several months,” Wilson said, adding that a low pressure system “picked up all that dust and carried it across the entire valley.”
In Madera, officials recorded a gust of 49 mph, which is unusual for a Central Valley location, Wilson said.
The video below, from UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia, shows the dust storm engulfing a camera east of Delano.
The university’s Garces Highway camera is located east of Delano, and its Schill Hill camera is in the foothills northeast of Bakersfield.
The weather service staff were able to see the haboob with their own eyes, a “distinct wall of dust” that “looked just like a classic Arizona dust storm,” according to Wilson.
As the storm moved from Madera through Fresno county, then through Kern county and into Bakersfield, rain followed the dust, clearing it out of the air.
Ultimately, the valley saw 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch of rain, with more in the hills.
“It was pretty impressive,” Wilson said. “This is a fairly uncommon event just due to the size and lower visibility of the dust storm,” she said, noting that the Hanford office’s senior forecaster issued his first career dust storm warning for several counties.
In some places, visibility was less than 100 feet, she said.
The video below, also from UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia, shows the storm northeast of Bakersfield in the foothills.
Those who are in the path of a dust storm should go inside and shut their windows, Wilson said. Drivers should pull over and keep their lights on to help avoid collisions.
There is also good news for Central Valley residents: The rain that followed the haboob soaked the valley floor, so forecasters believe another dust storm is unlikely.
