Dust cloud descends on Arizona

07/07/2011

By Sarah Tawton

Residents in Arizona have suffered power cuts and travel delays after a massive dust storm swept into the state's capital city.

The dust cloud descended on Phoenix on Tuesday night, knocking down trees and towering over the city's skyscrapers.

The wall of dust drastically reduced visibility as it was blown through the city by winds of up to 60mph, causing delays to a number of flights.

Local TV stations reported that the dust cloud reached up to 50 miles wide in some places as it swept across the desert from the south.

The storm came during the Arizona monsoon season, which lasts from the middle of June until the end of September.

More than a dozen communities in Phoenix and the nearby cities of Avondale, Tempe and Scottsdale were placed under a severe thunderstorm watch as the dust cloud began to move towards the north west.