Tag / dust storm

by findingbackroads

Sand and more sand on first day of spring

As the northern hemisphere greets the first day of spring (Japan declares this day a public holiday), here in the UAE, we got nothing but sand, sand and more sand. Dust, too.

Strong winds kicked up dust and sand and reduced visibility all over the country.

It’s bad enough that there is really no season of “spring”, no tulips springing on sidewalks and beautiful cherry blossoms, then we got this nasty sandstorm upon us for the past four days.

When looking out from our apartment balcony, we normally see this:

For the past few days, the buildings are a no-show:

NASA satellite capture the thick dust/sand hovering our skies:

A bit apocalyptic, hey. How’s spring from where you are?

by findingbackroads

thick fog envelops Dubai again

Driving was a risky task this morning as thick fog enveloped the whole city dropping the visibility to 100 meters.  There were 168 accidents reported for today alone.

The fog descended over Dubai at around 3:30 am and only cleared by 8:30 am.It is not unusual to have fog at this time of the year.It occurs when there is very light wind, absolute clear skies, high humidity (signalling summer?) and cold nights.

Starting Wednesday, very strong winds with speeds of over 45 kmph will hit the country whipping up dust. No lip gloss on Wednesday if that is true!