Spectacular moment cold front causes huge dust cloud to completely obscure Denver’s skyline
Apocalypse Denver! Spectacular moment cold front causes huge dust cloud to blow through Mile High City, completely obscuring the skyscrapers from view
- A rapid shift from 60-degree weather to temperatures in the 40s created strong downward gusts that blew up a wall of dust that engulfed Denver on Sunday
- The dust cloud, called a ‘haboob,’ was kicked up by 46 mph winds, and 85 mph gusts were recorded in the 12 hours preceding the phenomenon
- Drought conditions dried soils in the eastern plains this year, creating the particles that were thrown up into the air
A cold front kicked up a dust storm that curled over Denver this weekend, blotting the skyscrapers and mountains from the city’s skyline as it passed through.
Video from a law firm’s live-stream camera captured the apocalyptic natural phenomenon around 2 pm on Sunday, and FOX meteorologist Heather Brinkmann took to Twitter with a snap of the ruddy skyline.
The Denver International Airport reported the dusty conditions and wind speeds of around 46 miles per hour around 3pm that day, with gusts of 85 mph recorded in the 12 hours preceding the dusting.
It made for spectacular video footage, with the dust cloud filmed blowing across the Colorado capital at high speed.
Meteorologist Stacey Donaldson with Denver7 explained that a rapid temperature drop from 60 to 40 degrees within the span of about three hours.
Video from a law firm’s live-stream camera (pictured) captured the apocalyptic natural phenomenon around 2 pm on Sunday, and FOX meteorologist Heather Brinkmann took to Twitter with a snap of the ruddy skyline
Just moments before the menacing dust cloud blows over, the Denver skyline can still be seen
The Denver International Airport reported the dusty conditions and wind speeds of around 46 miles per hour around 3pm on Sunday, with gusts of 85 mph recorded in the 12 hours preceding the dusting
The shift brought on the downward-blowing winds – because heat rises, the cold air was pushed down and kicked up the dust.
‘We actually get these dust storms often,’ Brinkmann explained on Twitter. ‘The dust just sits at the base of the mountain until a wind shift, or front, like in yesterday’s case.’
Meteorologists said the wall of dust met the criterion for a regionally atypical (and universally fun to say) ‘haboob.’
The American Meteorological Society defines a haboob as a mass of dust as high as 5,000 feet, caused by strong winds and followed by increased wind speeds and lowered visibility. They are more typically seen in drier southwest cities like Albuquerque and Phoenix.
Drought conditions this year dried out soils on the eastern plains this year, creating the dust that collected over the city and state on Sunday, according to 9News.
The shift brought on the downward-blowing winds – because heat rises, the cold air was pushed down and kicked up the dust.
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