Photo from Arab News
Very weird sandstorm hit us yesterday. The sun was not even able to get through it. As it started turning daylight, it looked overcast outside. Only it wasn't really overcast. Then the sky turned a strange color orange, tan and brown. It was quite strange in appearance. Just downright nasty outside. No walk for The Baby. [The Boy won't be going on any walks until his stitches are removed in a week or so. Just outside on a leash to do business, until then. Oh, and with a bag covering his "cast."] Our dust storm yesterday was so thick you could taste it. If you opened your mouth when you were outside, you could feel it on your teeth.
DH went to work yesterday afternoon and sat at the airport for four hours because visibility was so bad they could not take off. According to one of our newspaper's this morning, there were 47 traffic accidents during the morning rush hour. According to the other paper, "there were no accidents due to the sandstorm." An official is quoted saying, "This is because of the awareness programs carried out by the Traffic Department from time to time." Oh my gosh. You cannot be serious. Two paragraphs further is the report of an accident; not due to the sandstorm, though. Right. Still downright dirty outside!
One of the patio tables [which WAS cleaned earlier this week] and the tracks out of the garage that the golf cart made this morning:
Was this sandstorm what they call a Shamal? I remember when the storms would strip the paint off of cars driving to Abqaiq or Ras Tanura from Dhahran. We would put grease on the front of the cars, particularly the lights to keep them from glazing over, then wash the grease off when we got there.
ReplyDeleteI also remember when I was in elementary school in Dhahran. My mom would send me to school in shorts and the Shamal wind would blow the sand with such force that my legs would sting. My mother also hated the way the dust came in the house.
I'm so out of touch with your local weather now. What is the temperature during the days and how cold does it get during the evenings?
It was a "Schmall." Odd thing was there was very little wind. We've had the sand storms with the wind whipping so bad your legs get stung. This wasn't one of them. It was very, very weird.
ReplyDeleteLast night it was 50 degrees outside. Sweater weather. Today, at 9:15A, it is only 60. Still cold. Still sweater weather. It will be another month or so before it warms up and becomes "pool weather."