Back in July, a dust storm known as a "habub" or "haboob" rolls into downtown Phoenix. Another dust storm reportedly hit west Texas this week. AMANDA LEE MYERS/AP File Photo
I have just seen this week's U.S. Drought Monitor report and I'm afraid it's not good news.
More on that later. First, a count-your-blessings-Oklahoma update on severe weather from other parts of the country:
Remember back when I shared info and images on Arizona's haboob, aka dust storm in July?
Here is that entry. It happened again, this time in west Texas.
According to the Associated Press, more than 70 mph winds, restricted visibility in a 5-mile range around Lubbock and an 8,000-foot-high rolling dust cloud on Monday afternoon into the early evening.
In addition, Lubbock International Airport evacuated the tower and direct air traffic from a backup center... on the tower's ground floor. Toppled trees, lost shingles off roofs and even an overturned cargo plane were reported, according to the AP.
"It was pretty spectacular. Everything just turned black," a Lubbock city spokesman told the AP.
"It went from light to dark, just like that," said Lubbock convenience store clerk Alma Williams. "I've never seen anything like it. It really scared me."
Locals and one of my editors here said this storm was reminiscent of the Dust Bowl photos of the late 30s. Here's some images from then and now so you can judge yourself:
(Photo credit: Traffic moves through a dust storm which cast a brown pall over downtown Lubbock, Texas on Monday. WALT NETT/AP Photo/The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)
(Photo credit: A dust storm approaches Spearman, Texas, in this April 14, 1935, file photo provided by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration from the Historic Nation Weather Service Collection. AP Photo/NOAA Historic National Weather Service Collection)
Here is a video that someone took from Texas Tech University campus:
Next, a tornado in south Florida hit late Tuesday, leaving a two-mile long trail of damage, peeling roads and tossing cars.
According to the Associated Press, it had a preliminary rating of EF2 as of Wednesday. Here are some images:
(Photo credit: Harold Wilson inspects his Sunrise, Fla. neighborhood Wednesday after a possible tornado damaged more than two dozen homes in the area. J. PAT CARTER/AP Photo)
(Photo credit: The garage door sits on a car in Sunrise, Fla. Wednesday after a possible tornado damaged more than two dozen homes in the area. J. PAT CARTER/AP Photo)
(Photo credit: The roof of a Sunrise, Fla. home sits in the pool early Wednesday after a possible tornado damaged more than two dozen homes in the area. J. PAT CARTER/AP Photo)
(Photo credit: Sunrise, Fla. Mayor Michael Ryan, right, comforts Yom-Tov Assidon Wednesday, after the two toured Assidon's storm damaged home. J. PAT CARTER/AP Photo)
Here is a video:
While the damage is nothing to be envious of, this might make some of us Oklahomans jealous: The AP reports that it's been raining in south Florida since this weekend and is expected to continue. BUT, there's also the threat of possible flooding and lingering storms.
Now, as promised, the state drought report. Once again, I have spliced together the previous weeks that I had saved to my computer somehow and tried to group them together. Sorry in advance:
As you can see, while some areas of the state showed slight improvement, Tulsa County is mostly back in the bright red zone, which is D3, extreme drought. Not as bad as dark red (D4, exceptional drought), not as good as orange (D2, severe drought), so we're caught in the middle again.
And the state's drought woes continue another week, alas.
However, Oklahoma is clearly not the only state suffering from weather issues lately.
Be safe!
-- Althea Peterson
