On Friday, a dust storm swept through the Phoenix area, temporarily causing all flights at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to be grounded. In the areas of San Tan Valley and Queen Creek there were about 2,000 customers without power. There were damaged awnings on mobile homes in Florence and in South Phoenix some trees were uprooted by the storm.
The dust storm began on Friday morning in Pinal County and moved west through Mesa, Gilbert, and Chandler. At the airport, winds were gusting up to 60 miles per hour and all flights were grounded until the winds calmed. While it is not know just how many flights were affected, there was a report of one flight being diverted to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Flights were back to normal by 2:00 pm Friday.
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