Recurring dust storms whipping Kuwait in the spring and summer are normal considering the country’s location and the desert climate, said Dherar Al-Ali, the supervisor of stations at the meteorological division of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Ali told KUNA that Kuwait’s location in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula puts it in close proximity with sources of dust, namely the Iraqi marshlands, Al-Rafidain plain, Iraq’s Western Desert, Syria’s rural regions, and the Al-Dahnaa and Al-Dabdaba deserts.

There are local sources of dust too such as Warba and Boubyan islands and the desert region of Al-Habari in the northwest, sand dunes in Al-Huwaimlah and treeless empty spaces. The Saudi Al-Dahnaa desert brings in reddish dust, Ali said, indicating that some storms are as vast as 200 km – these are emerging ones coming mainly from the Western Desert in Iraq and Al-Rafidain plain. As to storms of a 150-km width, they usually rage at high speed and originate from the Iraqi marshes and Wadi Al-Batin. – KUNA