A dust storm swept over Egypt on February 8, 2006, moving in a counterclockwise direction from the Sahara Desert toward the Mediterranean Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Aqua satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the dust appears as a pale beige swirl over the landscape, blurring many of the features on the ground. To the north of the dust are dense clouds hanging over the Mediterranean.
This storm produced a dust cloud much thicker than the one observed on January 23, 2006. Unlike that dust storm, this one completely obscured the view of the Nile Delta, which usually stands out from its surroundings as a lush green triangle. According to news reports, a huge cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal on Wednesday after drifting into a bad position during the storm.
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NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
