Enormous 10,000 foot wave of dust swallows Phoenix leaving residents all choked up

Mike Gallagher

Jul 6, 2011 - 03:56

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Enormous 10,000 foot wave of dust swallows Phoenix leaving residents all choked up

Apocalyptic: The giant dust storm engulfs Phoenix, Arizona, and appears to be causing fires and destruction in its path. But it is merely the reflection of street lights - the storm is little more than an inconvenience

The Phoenix area is dusting itself off Wednesday after a stinging desert storm swept through town, delaying flights and leaving thousands without power, officials said.

The choking dust cloud moved through the Phoenix valley late Tuesday like an enormous wave - reaching nearly 10,000 feet high, meteorologists said.

"This was pretty significant," said Pail Iniguez of the National Weather Service. "We heard from a lot of people who lived here for a number of storms and this was the worst they'd seen."

In some places, wind gusts reached 60 miles per hour in the Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale area.