Sandstorm with lightning and thunder lashes different parts of the country
A sandstorm, which was accompanied by lightning and thunder, lashed across several parts of the country today evening.
Some members of the Qatar Living team, who were out on an assignment, were caught in the middle of it but returned home safely.
Another staff member, who was leaving for a brief trip home, narrowly avoided an accident owing to poor visibility.
The Qatar Met Department, in a tweet, explained the reason for the sudden change in weather.
“Local convective clouds usually form during the afternoon as surface heating causes rising currents of air (because warm air is less dense than cold air). It leads to the formation of thunder cells, provided there is enough moisture in the atmosphere,” it said on the tweet.
General information about how local convective clouds form and the reason behind the resulting dusty conditions at times. #Qatar #Qatar_Weather_Information pic.twitter.com/JyoqZIE8SB
— أرصاد قطر (@Qatar_Weather) October 15, 2018
“These thunder cells are usually accompanied with strong downdraft winds that raise dust and reduce visibility temporarily. The lifetime of a typical airmass summer thunderstorms is between 45 to 60 minutes and they usually dissipate before sunset due to lack of surface heating,” the Met Department said.
No major accidents have so far been reported anywhere in the country and thank God that everyone is safe.
Here are some pictures taken by Qatar Living staff as well as a few pictures that were shared online on social media site Twitter.
Sandstorm is coming...#Qatar #Doha #sandstorm #kumfırtınası #katar pic.twitter.com/90BpOmapyn
— Ayşe (@ulutweet) October 15, 2018
Opened the door to look at the weather and a gush of sand went into my eyes. # Blind Rn #Qatar #Sandstorm
— Ayesha.. (@Ayshathelight) October 15, 2018
View this post on InstagramWhen the sandstorm creeps upon you..!!!! #masks_on #respiratorytherapy #get_the_kids_indoors!
A post shared by Coogie (@ugot2funk) on Oct 15, 2018 at 6:56am PDT
@Qatar_Weather Sandstorm approaching West Bay from the Pearl #Doha pic.twitter.com/qpl0X6hUNE
— Samantha Chande (@SamChande) October 15, 2018
Everyone was talking about sandstorm, I had no clue what is happening being in office since last 7 hours... and now I see it's windy with lighting.... expecting some showers ♡#Qatar… https://t.co/36LRzldwAk
— Amanat Solanki (@AmanatSolanki) October 15, 2018
