They call the wind Al Riakh

It is easy to forget that Dubai is in the desert, since the authorities have spent quite a bit of money planting greenery (and then watering the greenery so that it actually stays green). Summer, of course, with its 47 degree days tends to remind visitors where they are, but winter in Dubai is usually like a normal, temperate summer, with 25 degree days and 15 degree nights.

Today, however, Dubai residents were reminded of where they live by a Western wind that carried the desert, called the Empty Quarter, across Dubai. Visibility: non-existent. Breathability: same. A bandana might have been helpful. Or staying inside, though the wind was strong enough dust was coming in around the edges of the windows.

Great for flying kites, if they weren't sand-blasted to oblivion, except that, while they're up, no one can see them.