May has become one of the highest months of the year in recording sandstorms, with 30 days in 25 years, Kuwait Meteorological Center said. In a statement to the press on Sunday, head of the center 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. Dashti added that due to the desert climate of Kuwait, dust storms increase at the end of spring and during the summer.

Kuwait witnessed, as of May 16, 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 noted that the storm originated in Deir Ezzur region, eastern Syria.

It was the most intense one in recent years, as it rolled and expanded eastward towards Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia, into western and northwestern Kuwait. Dashti said rain decline helped in raising the 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, while the general average for the season is 113 mm.