Rare ‘haboob’ dust storm brings California’s Central Valley to a halt [Video]

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 from about 1:30 to 4 p.m. Monday, 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 …