What Are Haboobs and Can My RV Survive One?

You'll be as rattled as your RV!

I experienced my first haboob while RVing in California.

I had experienced desert storms before in Nevada and Arizona. But this one was different. It started with a light rustle of wind in the trees. Overhead, the birds circled the palm trees but would not perch. Something about the wind also seemed eerie.

I opened the RV door, poked my head out, and wandered along my lot. Kevin—my neighbor at the time—had also exited his RV and was looking around. That’s when we saw it: a big cloud of sand coming straight towards us.

We ran back inside and shut the doors. We had barely closed the windows and vents when the sand slammed into the side of the RVs. You could hear the sand and gravel beating against the fiberglass and the windows. Some started to make their way through the tiny spaces where windows connected with the shell of the RV.

It ended as suddenly as it had begun a few minutes later. We walked outside to see our vehicles covered in sand. My welcome mat had disappeared and gone to welcome someone else. A random shoe, some kids’ puzzles, and other odd bits and ends now sat on my lot.

It took weeks to finally get all the sand out of the RVs. No matter how much we swept, vacuumed, and mopped, we would always find more.

It was even worse in New Mexico.

It was fall when I bought a 99-year lease on a lot in New Mexico. The winter cold was brutal, but I knew I would spend my winters south of the border anyway. What I did not know—and the real estate developer did not tell me—was that the area got brutal windstorms throughout the spring. They didn’t stop until the Monsoon rains came.

I learned the hard way when I returned with my mom and grandmom the following March. Those videos will go live on my YouTube channel in April. Subscribe and ring the notification bell so you don’t miss them! In the meantime, here’s a video of my neighbor getting caught in our last big haboob before the monsoon rains came:

When my family visited, the wind howled endlessly and shook the RV with its full might. It was worse throughout the day, but then it would start to calm down at night until the late mornings. We watched the wind markers in the weather app every evening to decide how early to get up and enjoy the outdoors before hurrying home.

Those windstorms continued when my mom and grandma left. When I ultimately gave up that lot and returned to living south of the border full-time, those haboobs felt like a solid good riddance.

What is a haboob?

You’ve seen the haboob in action, but what exactly is this weather phenomenon? According to Britannica, it’s a:

…strong wind that occurs primarily along the southern edges of the Sahara in Sudan and is associated with large sandstorms and dust storms and may be accompanied by thunderstorms. A haboob may transport huge quantities of sand or dust, which move as a dense wall that can reach a height of 1,000 metres (about 3,300 feet).

Haboobs are also common in other parts of the Sahara desert and in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as in arid parts of North America, such as Arizona and Texas, and in Australia, Central Asia, and China. The term haboob is taken from the Arabic word habb, meaning “wind.”

Can your RV survive a haboob?

The short answer is yes—usually.

The longer answer is that it depends on the severity of the storm and the quality of your RV. I’ve endured windstorms so powerful that I moved the RV to lower ground because it felt it might blow it off the hill. It’s usually best to point the front of your RV into the wind when you can because your RV is designed to deflect wind at that angle.

However, the wind is only half the problem. The other half is what might be in the wind. I’ve heard of haboobs lifting people’s empty water tanks off their homestead properties, tearing off roof tiles, and sending fencing flying. I’ve personally seen it send buckets, tables, chairs, and sheds flying. If those things get hurled at your RV at the up to 80 MPH wind gusts I’ve experienced, your RV might not survive the blow.

The material of your RV also makes a difference. Your best bet is to have a hard-shell RV. The pop-up RVs with cloth material would likely have a more difficult time holding up to the wind.

Even so, I’ve spent a windstorm in my rooftop tent with Shadow. That video goes live on my YouTube channel on February 14th, so keep an eye out for it!

Should you be worried about haboobs?

I feared for my safety in my first windstorm in the RV—even without the sand. I was so worried my RV would blow over on her side that I ran out into the storm and jumped into Samson (my FJ Cruiser). My neighbor got worried I was planning on peeling out and came running over to talk some sense into me.

“I want to hitch up the FJ to the RV and use it as an anchor,” I explained.

He nodded and gave me a thumbs-up. “Great idea!”

We could barely hear each other over the wind. But he stayed and helped me hitch up the FJ. That increased my touch points on the ground from two wheels to six. Jasmine continued to rock to and fro, but I felt safer. Meanwhile, my friends’ 40-foot motorhome caught the wind on the back end. It lifted it off the ground a few inches and dropped it again.

They had only been on the road for a month. Me? Only a few weeks. What a welcome!

Despite these experiences, my answer is no. My RV has survived countless haboobs in the Desert Southwest, three Mexico hurricanes, two Georgia hurricanes, two Georgia snow storms, and driving through Monsoon floods twice. Bad luck may cause real damage, but you’d be surprised what RVs can stand up to if you’re prepared.

I will, however, give these words of caution: do NOT attempt to drive your motorhome—or worse, tow a trailer—during a windstorm. Mother Nature will not hesitate to show you who’s the real boss of the road. That’s precisely why my neighbor came running over in the middle of a windstorm to make sure I wasn’t about to do something incredibly stupid.

Anything over 20-25 MPH is a no-no for towing!

So, what should you do if you get caught in a haboob at camp?

Or worse, while towing your rig there?

Next week, I’ll share tips for RVing in haboobs and other desert windstorms with paid subscribers. See you then!