I had very little knowledge about sandstorm for years. I grow up in a tropical country and while I was hailed in my mother's province known as "The Land of the Howling Wind", Catanduanes. On 2007, I set foot in the Middle East where sandstorm is quite a natural phenomenon like typhoon in my home province. The constant experience had brought me to research facts about sandstorm. Since I am not a weather guru, let me share you a short article from Wikipedia.org.
A dust / sand storm is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Particles are transported by saltation and suspension, causing soil to move from one place and deposition in another.
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| Dust Bowl Image |
The Sahara and drylands around the Arabian peninsula are the main terrestrial sources of airborne dust, with some contributions from Iran, Pakistan and India into the Arabian Sea, and China's significant storms deposit dust in the Pacific. It has been argued that recently, poor management of the Earth's drylands, such as neglecting the fallow system, are increasing dust storms from desert margins and changing both the local and global climate, and also impacting local economies.[1]
The term sandstorm is used most often in the context of desertsandstorms, especially in the Sahara, or places where sand is a more prevalent soil type than dirt or rock, when, in addition to fine particles obscuring visibility, a considerable amount of larger sand particles are blown closer to the surface. The termdust storm is more likely to be used when finer particles are blown long distances, especially when the dust storm affectsurban areas.
[Source credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_storm]
[Photo credits: http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html]
[Photo credits: http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html]
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