Windswept dust blanketed southern Iraq and other parts of the Middle East in mid-April 2025. The airborne particles turned skies orange, reduced visibility, and worsened air quality near the ground where people live and breathe.
Dust activity appears to have increased dramatically on April 14 between 9:30 a.m. and 1:50 p.m. local time (06:30 and 10:50 Universal Time), when the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites acquired these images. Dust clouds are especially pronounced over arid regions of southern Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia in the later image (right) and in dust forecasts for the region that day.
Breathing issues sent nearly 4,000 people to emergency rooms across multiple Iraqi provinces, according to news reports. Al Başrah (Basra) and An Najaf saw approximately 1,000 and 500 of those cases, respectively. Videos published by the BBC captured orange skies, low visibility, and strong winds whipping through those cities. The storm caused authorities to shut down several airports, they reported.
Powerful westerly winds also carried dust into Kuwait that day. Weather stations measured wind gusts exceeding 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, news outlets reported, and Kuwaiti officials announced that schools would hold classes remotely on April 15 to reduce exposure to unhealthy air.
Dust storms in Iraq are most common during late spring and summer, provoked by seasonal winds that blow from the north-northwest across abundant sources of dust. However, these storms can arise at other times of year, including in winter and spring. In April and May 2022, for example, a series of severe dust storms caused similar disruptions to the region. Declines in water resources may be amplifying the frequency and intensity of spring and summer dust events in Iraq. Dry conditions make it more likely that winds can loft and transport loose material.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
