Towering haboob engulfs city, turning skies orange

The skies turned orange and the streets were engulfed when a massive haboob rolled into the Chilean city, Diego de Almagro, which is about 480 miles north of Chile's capital, Santiago, on Thursday. A haboob is a giant wall of dust towering into the sky and is often triggered by the winds flowing outward from surrounding storms, and in this case, those surrounding storms were thunderstorms.

Residents filmed videos that showed the massive haboob rolling into the city before the coral dirt darkened the entire area.

This event was highly-localized, but stronger storms impacted other portions of the area.

According to G5 Noticias, a local news outlet, 75 homes suffered minor damage after Thursday's intense rainfall and winds in the Atacama Region. More than 9,000 customers were without electricity, including the Diego de Almagro hospital.

Miguel Cargas, the governor of the Atacama Region and Araya Plaza, the president of the Inca de Oro Mining Association, visited the affected communities after the storm. Authorities and technical teams were being established to determine a support plan for the affected families.

The city, Diego de Almagro, is located in the Atacama desert region of Chile, which is just west of the Andes Mountains range. The Atacama desert region is prone to these types of dust storms.

"It is one of the driest deserts on Earth," AccuWeather meteorologist Tony Zartman said. "As such, it does not take much wind to stir up the dusty or sandy soil in the region."

The Chilean Meteorological Directorate (DMC) classifies its warning system into three categories, increasing severity: warning, alert and alarm. On Thursday, the DMC issued a storm warning for thunderstorms in the area and urged residents to stay inside.

Once the winds from the thunderstorms subside, the haboob ends. According to Zartman, a haboob typically lasts from a few minutes to an hour.

The haboob spread dust and sand across the city, quickly degrading the air quality.

Not surprisingly, the dense cloud of dust and sand that the haboob kicked up and spread across the region was not good for air quality in the region, though the threats posed to locals were short-lived.

According to Tyler Knowlton, the director of communications, communities and partnerships at Plume Labs, an environmental technology company that AccuWeather acquired earlier this year, the dominant pollutant during a dust storm, like the one that affected much of Western Europe this week, or this haboob that affected a city in Chile, is a particulate matter (PM), which is also known as aerosols.

"According to the World Health Organization (WHO), particulate matter is the most dangerous type of pollution when it comes to human health," said Knowlton. "PM can penetrate into our respiratory system, causing simple eye or throat irritation, or more serious issues in our lungs, hearts and brains. Some studies have linked prenatal PM exposure to serious issues like premature births and developmental issues for the baby."

Knowlton recommended that people who encounter a haboob, especially those who suffer from respiratory diseases, avoid spending time outdoors and wear a face mask when the air quality levels are poor.

The air quality levels improved in Diego de Almagro after the haboob ended. On Friday afternoon, the air quality there was at an "excellent" level, ideal for most individuals. To check air quality forecasts for your area, select "Air Quality" from the drop-down menu on the right-hand side of AccuWeather.com.

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