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In this satellite image, a dust storm makes its way across Syria (upper left), Iraq (center), and Iran (right). Dust and sand storms in the Middle East and other arid regions tend to come in two forms. Haboobs are dramatic events associated with storm fronts and often appear as walls of sand and dust marching across the landscape. But like thunderstorms, haboobs tend to be abrupt and short-lived. Then there are the long-lived, wide-reaching dust storms that can last for days. In Iraq, such storms are often associated with the shamal, a pattern of persistent northwesterly winds. In early September 2015, a storm with characteristics of both the shamal and the haboob moved across the Persian Gulf region. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of the dust storm on September 1. The dust event first appeared along the Syria-Iraq border (upper left in image) on August 31. By the next day, the storm took on the cyclonic shape visible in this image. By September 2, the dust cloud reached the Persian Gulf. The storm appears to have been triggered by a surface low-pressure system that moved from northwest to southeast during the week. Much of northern Iraq has been in a state of exceptional drought. Anecdotal evidence and media reports in recent years suggest that dust storms have become more common in Iraq and Iran, a result of that drought and of the human and natural destruction of wetlands in the Tigris-Euphrates watersheds.
