A dust storm blew off the southern coasts of Pakistan and Iran, flowing out over the Arabian Sea on June 1, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the dust appears as pale beige swirls over the ocean water. The dust appears thickest in the east, south of Pakistan. To the east of the dust storm is some cloud cover.
Dust storms often result from extremely hot, dry conditions, and they occur frequently in the Middle East. According to news reports, Pakistan suffered a severe heat wave in May 2006, and temperatures remained high at the beginning of June.
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NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
