Phoenix, Arizona has seen more than its share of wacky weather over the last week, with a massive dust storm September followed by record flooding two days later. “A huge dust storm—known as a ‘haboob’—blanketed the area on Saturday, blowing thick sand on wind gusts between 25 to 40 miles per hour,” Atkin reports. “And Monday was the wettest day in the city’s recorded history, breaking a 75-year-old record for rainfall.” The city received 3.29 inches of rain in less than 12 hours, enough to inundate freeways and strand drivers. “The desert terrain surrounding Phoenix is already incapable of absorbing a lot of water—a situation that gets even worse when heavy rainfall hits the concrete-laden city, which also can’t absorb water,” she writes.
- Be among the first to read The Energy Mix Weekender
- A brand new weekly digest containing exclusive and essential climate stories from around the world.
- The Weekender:The climate news you need.
