A massive dust storm buried parts of New Mexico and Texas in airborne smut Monday morning, shutting down highways and leaving nearly 900,000 residents trapped in a potentially deadly cloud.
The dust storm — a particularly fierce variety known as a “haboob” — was miles wide and thousands of feet tall, carried along the southern border by whipping winds that kicked up desert dust and created near zero-visibility conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
That agency issued blowing dust advisories for counties in southern New Mexico and Texas until at least Monday night and warned of wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour in some areas.
Officials closed parts of I-10, I-25, and other highways, and the visibility around El Paso International Airport dropped to just 1/4 mile, reported CBS 4 meteorologist Evan O’Reagan, who posted videos to X of opaque walls of dust taken by unlucky motorists.
Federal officials also issued red flag fire warnings for counties in the haboob’s path as strong winds and low humidity made the desert into a tinderbox for wildfires.
The dust — which could linger in the air for days — prompted officials in Albuquerque to issue an emergency health alert, urging anyone with respiratory issues to stay indoors, KQRE reported.
Haboobs can occur anywhere in the U.S. but are most common in the Southwest. They are particularly dangerous for people with respiratory conditions and highway drivers, who often have no way to escape the storm by the time they spot it looming on the horizon.
“Blinding, choking dust can quickly reduce visibility, causing accidents that may involve chain collisions, creating massive pileups,” the National Weather Service warns.
Rather than try to out-drive a haboob, experts advise drivers to pull off the road, shut off their car lights, and wait for the storm to pass.
