A miasma of dust in the UAE

The view of dusty skies in Abu Dhabi from my car's window on June 18, 2008.

For the past week all of the UAE has been enveloped in a miasma of fine dust particles blown in by winds coming from Iraq and Kuwait in the north.

Keeping one’s car clean in these conditions is quite difficult, because as soon as it is wiped clean more sand particles land on it.

The only good side effect of these sandy winds is that the resulting haze, or miasma, blocks some of the sun’s rays thus bringing down the temperature. Visibility has been cut to around 2,000 meters, or two kilometers, according to meteorologists. Weather forecasters said the sandy winds will continue for two more days, after which temperatures will rise to 45 degrees C.

I’ve never experienced so many days in row with such fine dust particles everywhere. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, we have sandstorms, but nothing like this pall of dust that we’ve been having here in Abu Dhabi.

In related weather news, an email making the rounds saying that hurricane was expected to hit Oman and the UAE this weekend has been outed as a fake by Dubai meteorologists. My friend Rym mentioned it to me this morning and then I read the denial in Khaleej Times.