Sand storms hit UAE

Sand storms hit UAE
By Mahmood Saberi, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: October 10, 2007, 12:26

Dubai: Strong easterly winds whipped up huge dust storms across Dubai and Sharjah reducing visibility to under 500 metres at Dubai Airport, the met office said.

Flights were not disrupted, but the visibility on the ground was even even less, specially on Emirates Road, said the duty forecaster, warning motorists to be careful.

“All flights are on time,” according to flight operations at the aiport.

In Sharjah winds of 30 knots forced drivers to switch on their parking lights because of low visibility while driving and in Jebel Ali construction nearly came to a standstill because of the high winds.

Workers were seen masking their faces against the harsh winds blowing sand on their faces.

The met office expects the winds to die down and the weather to clear up by the night.



“The bad weather is due to the seasonal changes,” said the forecaster, noting that temperatures are still hovering around 36 to 37 degrees Celsius.

The winds also whipped high swells offshore but there was no marine warning.

In Abu Dhabi it was a clear day.