The Calm before the Haboob

Yes… We said Haboob. To those non-phoenix natives, Haboob’s are those epic dust storms you hear about on the news. They are our version of “extreme” weather here in Arizona. They are usually accompanied by monsoon-like rains and a whole lot of wind. Last Thursday, our photographer and some employees, set out to shoot a customer’s super clean Miata with a fresh set of Work Wheels, but ended up getting more than they expected.

We are in the heart of Monsoon season right now in Arizona, which means the weather can turn on a dime. The photoshoot that started in a sunny parking lot, soon turned into a heated escape from a determined Haboob. The pictures tell a story, but we’ve added a little clip of what it’s like to be in the middle of a Haboob.

After taking some shots in park near by, they could tell the weather was taking a turn. They decided to try and head to the next spot, but the storm picked up faster than anticipated. As the wind whistled through the power lines, the hard it was to see what was ahead of you on the road. If you’ve lived in Arizona for any amount of time, you know the best thing to do when a Haboob is approaching, is to pull over and wait…. Which we did, but not before getting some shots.

Not many car enthusiast would risk their interior just for an amazing shot of their car, but that’s precisely what our customer did. As the Haboob was closing in, they decided to play chicken with the Haboob to get some last minute shots while the top was down. You can see the treacherous monster looming in the background, just waiting to envelop and destroy this top-down, Miata. Like an avalanche of dust, they captured the storm engulfing everything in its path. Once the picture was shot, the race to get the top up, was on!

Once the top was securely fastened, the waiting game began. With in minutes, a sunny day had turned into an apocalyptic night. As with most car enthusiasts not risking their interior, most photographers wouldn’t risk their gear, to get this video within the eye of the Haboob. As hurricane force winds plaster the group of cars, our photographer, Cody Gephart was capturing the chaos firsthand.

After 30 minutes of waiting out the storm, they decided to call it a day. Even though the storm had past, they still had to maneuver through the path of destruction. The slammed Miata looked like Frogger trying to avoid all the debris left behind. One, slightly large branch, could leave a fatal blow to his precious build. Anyone with a black car knows how hard it is to keep clean. The Haboob erased all the hard work he went through to prep this jet black car to be photo-ready. With in seconds of the storm starting, all the hard work was washed away leaving him with a sand blasted finish. Welcome to life in Arizona!