May has become the highest month of the year in terms of recording sandstorms over the past 25 years, said Kuwait Meteorological Department in a statement last week. Head of the department, Dr. Hassan Al-Dashti, said that June was at the forefront during the past half century, but there had been change in the pattern of climatic phenomena in recent years, which made May the lead in dusty conditions instead of June.
Al-Dashti added that due to the desert climate of Kuwait, dust storms increase at the end of spring and during the summer. He noted that, as of 16 May Kuwait witnessed the start of a sandstorm from the west and northwest of the country, accompanied by 35 km/h and 50 km/h winds, which reduced horizontal visibility to less than 300 meters, suspended air, maritime navigation and affected patients of allergy and asthma.
He pointed out that the storm originated in the Deir Ezzur region, in eastern Syria.
It was the most intense one in recent years, as it rolled and expanded eastward towards Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia, and into western and northwestern Kuwait.Al-Dashti said the decline in rainfall aggravated the rising dust in Kuwait, as the 2021/2022 season recorded the lowest rainfall among 19 seasons during the last quarter century, recording only 87.8 mm of rainfall, while the general average for the season is 113 mm.
