The slow-moving cloud — known as a haboob — hit parts of Phoenix and Arizona City, 60 miles to the southeast, late Monday afternoon, at one point leaving 15,000 energy customers in the dark. The number still without power Tuesday morning was more than 5,000 according to Poweroutage.us, mostly in Maricopa County.

Incredible images out Arizona show a large dust storm blanketing parts of the state. What is a haboob, and could it happen in Washington state?

A towering wall of dust, known meteorologically as a haboob, swallowed parts of metro Phoenix Monday evening, plunging the city into near-zero visibility as severe storms caused damage.

Phoenix and other cities in Arizona were affected by a dramatic dust storm called a haboob on Monday, Aug. 25. The storm was followed by heavy rain and winds, leaving thousands without power and temporarily grounding flights at one of the nation's busiest airports.

An Arizona couple was expecting to celebrate their wedding when a massive dust storm hit metro Phoenix. A local shop owner stepped in to shelter them.

A haboob is a dust storm pushed by the wind produced by a weather front or thunderstorm and typically occurs in flat, arid areas. Heavy rain and wind followed Monday's haboob, delaying flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and causing some damage to a terminal roof.

This may be “too soon” for most of you, but parts of the Great Lakes as far south as Ann Arbor, Michigan, dipped into the 30s this morning. A few locations in northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan and northeast Minnesota even dipped to the freezing mark or colder. From managing editor Sean Breslin:

Crews are cleaning up downed trees and have mostly restored power after a powerful dust storm hit the Phoenix area