RIYADH: A massive sandstorm in the Saudi capital and its suburbs that lasted for nearly 90 minutes turned day into night in a matter of minutes.
Roads of Riyadh and its adjoining areas were completely clogged by Thursday evening. The sandstorm, which was followed by light precipitation dropped visibility to zero in some parts of the city, forcing the people to remain indoors as well as halting the public transport system.
"The storm also swept through neighboring areas of Riyadh," said an official of the Civil Defense, adding that the storm reduced the visibility leading to some traffic accidents on Makkah Road, Al-Kharj Road, Riyadh-Qassim Road and on a few streets in the city. "Drivers were forced to stop in the middle of the busy thoroughfares," said the official, adding that no major problem was reported.
Asked about the weather forecast for Riyadh in the next few days, Mansour Almazroui, director of the Center of Excellence for Climate Change Research at the Jeddah-based King Abdulaziz University, told Arab News: "The Kingdom is still experiencing fluctuations in weather, especially that we are now in the latter part of spring, which is usually characterized by fast fluctuations."
"These fluctuations are currently responsible for rain cloud formations and sandstorms caused by the downdrafts of the rainfall clouds," explained Almazroui.
He said that the sandstorm that hit Riyadh was more "localized in nature," explaining further that certain parts of Riyadh province were more affected by this turbulent weather.
He said that Saudi Arabia would witness more rainfall over the southwestern parts and the visibility may be reduced over some parts of the eastern and central regions.
The final matches of the Riyadh Cricket Association's 5th Arab News International School Cricket Cup was abandoned on Thursday due to the sandstorm.
Narrating his experience, a cricket fan Saquib Manzar, an IISR student, present on the ground, said: "I never saw death so close to me."
Referring to the storm that caused a lot of inconvenience, Sharif H. Khan, a truck driver, said that he parked his vehicle near the new industrial area of Riyadh because the visibility dropped to zero. Many drivers of heavy vehicles were forced to follow suit. Area hospitals reported that some people were treated for breathing problems due to the storm.
© Arab News 2011
