Beware storms in the desert

I just drove through the scariest storm I've ever driven through in my whole life. And that's saying something from someone who lived in Houston for a time, and also had to drive through snowstorms and blizzards in Massachusetts.
It's so weird how I don't like it when I have no visibility.
I had an incredible lightning show, which was cool. But then the rain started. The drops were so big and so loud hitting my windows that it sounded like someone was throwing rocks at us. And the rain was sideways, too. And also, so heavy that I couldn't see the road. The cars on the highway were all going about 30 miles per hour, and we all had our hazard lights on to keep everyone else aware of us. There were times when I honestly couldn't see outside my windshield. And the lightning kept flashing, which wouldn't do anything other than blind you, because it was like a camera flash going off in your face. It makes me very uncomfortable when the only way to navigate is via the reflectors along the lane.
And all this lasted for about 20 to 25 minutes. And when we were through it, it took me about 30 minutes to relax my arm and back muscles. And I almost cried because I got so freaked out.
And my kid slept through the whole thing.