A pedestrian wears a face mask for protection from dust as he walks through Grand Hamad Street yesterday. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter


The sandstorm that lashed Qatar late in the evening on Wednesday was a “rare and unusual occurrence”, a senior official of the forecasting department told Gulf Times yesterday.
“Though winds could continue to be strong at intervals in the next few days, the chances of a repeat of such a severe sandstorm are rather remote and highly unlikely,” Abdulla al-Mannai, head of the forecasting section in the Department of Meteorology, explained.
A driver of a luxury dhow, who has been a Doha resident for nearly 30 years, said he had never experienced such a sandstorm in Qatar.
Qatar experienced severe dusty conditions for nearly four hours on Wednesday after the pressure of northwesterly winds from the Saudi Arabian peninsula intensified.
While the air was filled with sand swirls that reduced visibility drastically, the fine dust swept in by the strong winds even entered the interiors of houses and offices, as attested by a number of residents.
The dusty conditions caught many residents unawares and there was an unusually high demand for face masks yesterday. Many pharmacies ran out of stocks of the ordinary surgical face mask, while others were forced to enforce unofficial purchase limits in order to cater to as many residents as possible with the available stocks.
“Everything in Qatar turned a muddy brown colour because of the sandstorm,” observed a long-time resident, pointing to the dust-coated trees, vehicles and buildings.
“The dust blown in by the wind was so fine that it stuck to surfaces easily, masking many signboards,” said another resident.
The forecast for today is strong winds at times and high seas up to 3pm. A minimum temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 33C are expected.
While the inshore areas would remain relatively hot during the day, the conditions would be accompanied by dusts and clouds.
The visibility would be in the region of 4-9km and the offshore sea would rise anywhere between 5 and 7ft by evening.



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