File:Dust storms in northern Iraq (MODIS 2015-09-08).jpg

English: During the closing days of August 2015 and opening days of September, a low pressure system moving from northwest to southeast triggered an unusual dust storm which moved across Iraq, Iran and the Persian Gulf.

Dust and sand storms in the Middle East and other arid regions tend to come in two forms. Haboobs are dramatic events associated with storm fronts and often appear as walls of sand and dust rolling across the landscape. But haboobs tend to be abrupt and short-lived. Then there are the long-lived, wide-reaching dust storms that can last for days. In Iraq, such storms are often associated with the shamal, a pattern of persistently northwesterly winds. This event, however, had characteristics of both types of storms as it moved across the region.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA�s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of the start of the dust storm on August 31. At that time, a heavy wall of dust was rising near the Syria-Iraq border and was pouring across Iraq with a leading edge appearing like a rolling wall of dust. By the next day, the storm appeared more like a swirling cyclone of dust, with the center over northern Iraq. By September 3 the dust had spread across the entire basin, including the Persian Gulf. Weather data from ground stations in several cities confirm the wind circulation around a low pressure system; however, the overall movement of the system from the northwest towards the Persian Gulf also suggests late-summer shamal winds played a role in this dust storm.