What’s a haboob? Meteorologists explain why cars around Kansas City are covered in dust

Car washes around Kansas City are going to be busy after what vehicle owners woke up to Monday.

After early Monday morning’s thunderstorm, a lot of cars were covered in dust that the wind picked up — from New Mexico and Arizona, according to Brad Temeyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

A strong wind created in the southwest region of the country kicked up the dust, and then the dust was propelled by the stronger winds and ended up in this region of Kansas and Missouri. Temeyer said that’s what caused the dirty rain to leave brown marks all over our cars.

Temeyer said this weather event is called a haboob, which is a dust storm that produces strong winds that move across the southwest. The word “haboob” means violent dust storm or sandstorm in Arabic.

He said it happens semi-regularly in the southwest, but for the dust to end up here, it’s usually once a year.

That kind of dust storm is similar to what Kansas Citians see during a thunderstorm. The storm produces an outflow out of the showers, but it’s relatively dry in the southwest.

Instead of rain, the dust on the ground is kicked up into the air because of the strong winds. The dust is carried across the region, where it ended up in Kansas City.