I walked out into sunshine...but by the time I got to the car I was being buffeted by gale force winds and smothered in sand.
It came out of nowhere, instantly.
We drove through Dubai Marina and in front of us it looked like this:
But to the right it was like this:
It seemed to be in a narrow band that we were driving through because Al Sufouh Road was much the same - compare the blue sky to the left with what we were driving into:
After lunch it had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived but it left evidence that it had passed through:
We went out to Global Village later in the afternoon and it had blasted through there too. All the stallholders were sweeping sand away, clearing rubbish and dusting their stock. Not a lot of damage and, in the way of these mini-cyclones, it had been selective in what it destroyed:
Note the hand in the right of the photo - Dubai residents will be very familiar with it. The immediate reaction to any problem is:
