April is the windiest month of the year in northern Arizona, where I took this photograph. As the saying goes, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb," but the climate patterns in this region keep March winds blowing and even intensify into the following month.

During winter, rain and snow wet the desert canyons. Spring brings a higher angle of the sun that quickly dries the ground. When the wind gusts, as it often does in April, the loosened soil creates rolling dust storms that march across the open basins, funneled by sandstone cliffs in places like Lee's Ferry, where southwest winds converge and are funneled by the high bluffs and plateaus on both sides of the nearby Colorado River.

This photograph captures a striking scene as sand and dust lift off the ground, moving across the landscape and shaking the saltbush field beneath Cathedral Rock, gathering debris along its path, gaining height until this blinding phantom finally collapses and dissolves over the rim of Marble Canyon behind me.

Straight-line wind bursts follow every few minutes. This blustery time of year, with its frequent squalls, creates a natural drama that awakens both sky and ground. The terrain becomes a challenging place to hike in or drive through, where you can enjoy the beauty of wildflowers and sage blooming as the seasons shift, while also facing the difficulty of venturing out amid alternating storms and sunshine, with their chill, heat, and wind stirring this otherwise quiet landscape.