When my brother, Niyaz, posted about the sandstorm that hit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I thought, “We’re next.” What I didn’t know was that next actually meant within the next 24 hours! I woke up feeling suffocated, and could smell dust. Just as I got out of bed, I started sneezing uncontrollably. I looked out of our bedroom window and was surpised to find out that I couldn’t see the building across the street!
Dubai Internet City
Our apartment has huge glass windows, which I keep closed most of the time during winter and all the time during summer, primarily because I’m highly allergic to dust. Yet these ultra fine dust particles always manage to find their way into the house. After breakfast, I took an antihistamine and headed for work.
Dubai Internet City
By 4 in the afternoon, when we finally got time to leave our desks, the storm had mellowed down a bit. We went to the back side of the office to take pictures. There, I found a couple of our colleagues and a lot of other people from the other buildings. “Go ahead, take pictures,” said Masood. “But the storm isn’t so bad, I mean it won’t show in the pictures so I guess I won’t be taking pictures afterall,” I said. Masood laughed, “You’re just feeling shy!”
Dubai Internet City
As you can see from the pictures above, it’s pretty much grayish brown everywhere. You almost can’t see the buildings past the palm trees. There isn’t a single cloud in the sky. And the winds were pretty strong. Temperature dropped from 28 C to 20 C.
With wave heights reaching up to 17 feet, beach goers are being advised to not venture out to sea.
For gorgeous pictures from around the globe, check out Skywatch Friday!
I can’t imagine being in a duststorm like that. Thanks for sharing those pictures!
Very nice series of pictures and interesting background. Careful not to get dust into your camera.
Wow that looks very powerful… that’s why they wear those abayas and turbans!
Despite the sandstorm, your photos beautifully capture what you were experiencing.
Thanks for sharing.
Looks like fog, but probably hurts more when you walk through it, and not to mention being tough to breath. We’ve been having quite a bit of maritime fog the past two days here in Florida, … but the days are blue sky and warm … and no sand, only on the beaches.
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Hmm .. Its called gard-baad in Urdu I guess coz the post reminded me of an urdu couplet;
yeh jo gard-baad-e-hayat hay, koi is ki zad say bacha nahi,
magar aaj tak teri yaad ko, may rakhoo’n sambhaal sambhaal kar ..
Nice photos of the faded greenery!
Thanks for the pingback sis
Good photography !!
Wouldn’t like to be in one of those sandstorms!
Unfortunately, we are in the gulf which is surrounded by sand and it’s a problem to the dust allergic people. May Allah keep us all healthy..Aameen.
Amazing weather.
very cool
thanx for sharing!!!
(hehe I am not the only one who feels like a geek taking photos hahaha)
Yeah..there was a duststorm the day I arrived in Karachi last summer. Add to that the scorching weather (35 degrees C) and lack of electricity and you are in for a perfect time!
Thanks for commenting on my picture. Your blog is quite interesting. Such a totally different world than my California home…must be very exciting living where you do. I will be stopping by more often.
I cant leave the flat on days like these – full asthma attack!
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