The haboob was followed by severe thunderstorms that ripped through Phoenix, leaving behind downed trees, wind damage and widespread power outages.

After a very slow start to this year’s monsoon season, metro Phoenix has finally seen some storms this week — including a big one on Tuesday night. But was it a haboob? Or a monsoon? A dust storm? And what does it all mean for this very dry summer?

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.