[1]Dust storm in Bahrain. Photograph shared on Twitter by Manama Voice
Some schools and universities will be closed [2]in Saudi Arabia tomorrow as a major sandstorm hits the kingdom. The sandstorm is also affecting neighbouring Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, where visibility has dropped as gusts blow sand and dirt into the sky.
Online, netizens share photographs and videos from the storm – common in such arid and semi-arid regions.
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi blogger Ahmed Al Omran shares this photograph famous Saudi capital landmark, Kingdom Centre, obscured by dust:
Very low visibility in Riyadh pic.twitter.com/dzziFxiwts [3]
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) April 1, 2015 [4]
Mohamed Al Saadoon, also from Riyadh, tweets:
Riyadh looks like some shit out of Silent Hill today pic.twitter.com/LEU32HS1ID [5]
— Mohamed Al Saadoon (@burning_phoneix) April 1, 2015 [6]
Kuwait:
From Kuwait, Faisal Al Fadhle shares this video of the storm as it approached Kuwait:
تصويري الآن #غبار_الكويت [7] #عاصفة_الكويت [8] #عاصفة_رملية [9] pic.twitter.com/lV89Gdu5U5 [10]
— فيصل الفضلي (@Faisalalfadhle) April 1, 2015 [11]
Bahrain:
Bu Isa shares those photographs on Twitter, taken at 9.00 pm local time:
مجال الرؤية الساعه 21:00 بس 100 متر مجال الرؤية الساعه 21:10 بس 50 متر #عاصفة_رملية [9] #البحرين [12] pic.twitter.com/xn5iRKBrxr [13]
— بو عيسي (@amin_q2) April 1, 2015 [14]
Visibility at 9pm: 100 metres
Visibility at 9.10pm: Only 50 metres
Qatar:
And the Qatari Ministry of Interior issued the following warning on Twitter:
Most parts of the country is affected by strong dust storm. Please be extra cautious while driving and at home as well. #MoI_Qatar [15]
— Ministry of Interior (@MOI_QatarEn) April 1, 2015 [16]
And Dr Almasri Ibrahim shares this video from Doha:
First time of its kind … strongest dust storm ever in doha city, #doha [17] #Qatar [18] #Qatar_weather [19] pic.twitter.com/7MEe7VvBMa [20]
— Dr.Almasri Ibrahim (@AlmasriDr) April 1, 2015 [21]
For long-time Qatar resident Michael Walker, this is the worst he has seen in nearly a decade:
Worst dust storm I have seen in Qatar in nearly a decade
— Michael J Walker (@mikeymikedoha) April 1, 2015 [22]