Headline News

Dusty weather takes Kuwait by surprise

Published Date: February 12, 2009
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff writer




KUWAIT: Kuwait was blinded yesterday by a sand and dust storm and buffeted by winds reaching speeds of up to 85 km per hour. The dusty weather came as a surprise at this time of the year as it is not common for Kuwait to have such weather in February. Sandstorms, which usually occur during the summer, caught many off guard. A number of schools and public departments closed early because of the weather.

Kuwait National Petroleum Co said it temporarily halted its oil exports because of the sandstorm. KNPC spokesman Ahmed Al-Mezaiel said that no tankers have been loaded since the night before. But he said operations at ports are expected to resume today morning after the storm clears. He added the stoppage would not hurt Kuwait's commitments to its clients.

Northwesterly winds were blamed for the sandstorm. "Wind speeds reached more than 50 km per hour in some areas. This caused sand tornados that reduced visibility to less than 100 km in desert areas. The red color of the dust was noticeable across the country and the dust was said to come from the Iraqi desert. The weather also caused high sea waves," meteorologist Adel Al-Sadoun told Kuwait Times. The sandstorm was caused by a change in air pressure. "It is expected that the speed of the winds will slow on
Thursday, but slight dust may remain. We advise fishermen to take care before setting out to sea," Al-Sadoun added.

Departures and arrivals at Kuwait International Airport were affected by the dusty weather, but not in a dramatic way. "In general, most of the departing and arriving flights to and from Kuwait landed on time or with little delay. A few flights were canceled including a Wataniya flight to Dubai, a DHL flight, a private charter going to Basra and all military flights until late afternoon yesterday," said Waleed Al-Najdi, the Acting Manager of Operations at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Visibili
ty reached 540 m, he said.

The directorate said it was prepared for any emergency. "We are ready to act in case of any emergency. Based on information from meteorologists, we expect the weather to improve in the evening and that visibility will get better. In case it does not improve, some flights coming to Kuwait may change their destination to Bahrain, which is the closest international airport," Al-Najdi said.