On the 25th of March of 2011 Kuwait was invaded by a sand storm coming from the north which annihilated the view in most areas from Abdali to Jahra. Two meteorologists stated that this is a natural phenomenon that proceeds the Sarayat season, astronomer Dr. Saleh Al-Ujairi released a statement saying that this dust storm is imported from Iraq and it indicates the Sarayat Season.

The sand storm which came in a wind speed of 80 to 85 kmph was tinted black due to the oversaturation of dust particles, panicking people as it made Kuwait dark from the afternoon to the late night hours, in addition to causing chaos in the streets where people parked their cars due to the lack of visibility. The Medical emergency center advised people to use towels and sponges to wedge door gaps in order to stop the dust from entering houses, especially in places where there are asthma patients; which are the most vulnerable in these weather conditions.

Airports and seaports had to stop activity because of the abrupt sea conditions, three Kuwaiti air planes had to make an emergency landing in Dammam which got affected by the dust storm as well, and the KNPC had to stop all digging and exportation of oil as well as maintenance in its refineries, the official spokesperson for the company sheikh Talal Al-Khalid Al-Sabah asserted the commitment of the company to supply its customers –nationally and internationally- of oil products, announcing that the company will receive no further shipments until further notice.

Meteorologists agreed on the black storm coming from Iraq is an indicate of an upcoming Sarayat that lasts till mid may. “What happened is caused by active winds and dust in the desert which soon crawled to Kuwait and all of its areas” Meteorology specialist Eisa Ramadan said, “This phenomenon leads to relative temperature drop and then rain showers in the northern region of the country especially Salmi which witnessed heavy rain”. On the other side astronomer and historian Adel Al-Sedoun said that the dust storm comes from the localization of a high pressure area above Iraq and the rain in middle region lead to the northwestern winds –reaching up to 60 kmph in outer areas- that resemble the Sarayat.

It is worth mentioning that the different kinds of dust are characteristics of desert environments where sand covers the land surface with little or no vegetation at a time when surface winds and vertical air currents are active.

Kuwait is subjected to all kinds of dust; from dust to sand storms or rising and airborne dust, which averagely make up 154 days in a year. Sand or dust storms are considered the most dangerous, especially when accompanied by active or severe winds that exceed the speed of 40 kilometers per hour (about 20 knots) which tend to decrease the horizontal visibility to less than a kilometer.

The lowering of visibility may lead to the suspension of land, marine and aerial transportation, in addition to road blocks, agricultural futility, air pollution, infections and wrecking buildings and air exposed gadgets.

On the other hand elevated dust has a horizontal visibility of more than a kilometer, with a moderate wind speed. Suspended dust comes with a slow and calm wind speed where visibility is 1 to 5 km.

The phenomenon of dust occurs more during the summer, especially in June where it peaks; occurring more than 66% of the days within the month. The phenomenon gradually decreases after that month, where it dips in November, December and January at a mean of 25 days. Dust and sand storms occur the least, with 27 days in average within a year; 128 hours, this rate may increase in a given year, 1982, for example, had 40 days of storms, the longest duration happened in 1979 with 218 hours.

While studying dust and sand storms that occurred in Kuwait airport between 1962 and 1982, it showed that 80% of these storms were accompanied by a northwestern wind, and it peaks during certain hours during the day –usually between 10 am and 7 pm- and then fades at night and early in the morning. Elevated dust is the most occurring phenomenon; 69 days of the year in average, behind it comes suspended dust; 58 days in average.