It’s here…the haboobs. For those not familiar with the term haboob – it’s a wall of dust reaching up to 5,000-feet-tall and 100-miles-long and winds up to 100 mph. When these blankets of brown encapsulate the sky, a few things happen to Zonies:
1. The new “Dust Storm” mobile warning push notifications, similar to an Amber Alert, will make you leap out of your seat
2. You regret getting your car washed
3. You might take a photo of it or use the word haboob in a post or tweet – and yes #haboob trends
4. Pool cleaning has been added to the to do list
If you haven’t seen one, sure you can Google for images, but no pictures really do it justice. Video via smartphone is the other popular outlet for showcasing this weather wonder, but one man took it to the skies and decided a drone would do a better job. Daniel Hurlbert, a gentleman vacationing in Gilbert, with a DJI Phantom drone + GoPro 3, filmed the haboob from up above until the winds became too strong.
Drones are making their way into the consumers lives with hobbyists taking on aerial photography, capturing their child’s soccer game from above or simply becoming a household insect. It will be interesting to see how consumers will push the limit in the skies to capture some of life’s moments.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/iyNEIAEf7Vk[/youtube]
My PSA for the day:
When you know you’ll be traveling during a dust storm, there are certain precautions you need to know and the University of Arizona wants to help – they created the University of Arizona Dust Storm mobile app for the season.
The app also offers tips on what to do during a storm, as well as, a survival kit guide with a place to list emergency phone numbers or insurance policy numbers, and items to keep in your car if you are expecting to drive through severe weather conditions.
What to do during a haboob:
- Do not drive through a dust storm
- Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane
- Look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway
- Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers
The app is available for free download on iTunes.
Want more drones? Read our coverage from the Consumer Electronic Show at AZTB.
Images courtesy of U of A Communications & flycamera.ca