Daijiworld Media Network - Riyadh

Riyadh, Feb 27: Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, which is known as the "The Desert Pearl", was turned fully into night causing a total obscurity at 3.40 pm on Saturday Febraury 25, when a massive sandstorm hit the city. It lasted for around 25 minutes with high intensity and velocity. It is confirmed that other suburbs of Riyadh also came under the enormous cloud of sands. The visibility was totally reduced to zero particularly in the places adjacent to desert areas. 

P A Hameed, Daijiworld Saudi reporter, witnessed the live panorama of the happening in the desert place, where his company is situated [around 55 kms away from the city center] near the King Khalid International Airport. He describes the scene as the “Tsunami of the Desert” as it appeared all at once. When he was ready to leave his workplace at 3.35 pm, it was without any sign of the phenomenon. However, within no time, a sturdy wind in the nearby desert blew vehemently, followed by the gigantic sandstorm, which became strongly visible at its height like waves upon waves turning the whole atmosphere into the dark of the darkest. All the employees were forced to remain in their offices though some were in their vehicles to leave, but without success. 

Ameen A Al-Dayel, a senior citizen and senior manufacturing supervisor in a electronics company in Riyadh, has opined that this kind of phenomenon took place about 20 years back. "It’s really amazing and stunning..” he exclaimed.  

The dust-storm was arising and coming from the desert in curly and smoky shape that blanketed the whole atmosphere within few minutes. The gusty sound of the sandstorm movement has really indicated its force and tempo. Even the lampposts that were switched upon the occurrence  and hazard lights on the vehicles were rarely seen. The indoors and outdoors of the buildings and vehicles were submerged with the full of  sands. The subsequent rainfall succeeded to gain the visibility to its normalcy although the weather was cloudy and drizzly. It is reported that the dust-storm was confined only to Riyadh although other parts of the Kingdom, particularly eastern and southern parts, experienced bad weather. 

The huge dust-storm brought the traffic into a halt for nearly an hour and created roadblocks and congestion throughout the city. No major problem nor any accident was immediately reported though it caused a lot of hassles. However, the people driving their vehicles were said to have been compelled to halt their vehicles amid the main roads as it was extremely impossible to commute. It has been said that the takeoff and landing of the flights were also disturbed due to the intensified weather. 
Saudi Arabia has been experiencing a typical climate since several days. Many felt that it was becoming normal weather after ending of severe winter. However, it was falsified with the re-entry of cold conditions over weeks.