Dust storm in Sudan - May 8th, 2009

A large dust storm previously covering northern to central Sudan, moves eastward  over Ethiopia towards Eritrea and the Red Sea. Lake Tana, bright green, can be seen just below the head of the dust cloud.

Such dust storms, or haboobs, are common in this region at this time of year. Haboob winds are frequently created by the collapse of a thunderstorm.

The collapse causes a downdraft of wind, or “downburst”, which reaches the ground and blows upwards dry, loose sand from the desert.

This creates a wall of sediment preceding the storm cloud. Here, the sand is flanked by white clouds on the southeastern side. This wall of sand can be up to 100 km (60 miles) wide and several kilometers in elevation.

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