I remember back when I was in China, we would get the occasional sandstorm.  Since we were on the side of a small mountain it would look very odd. It would start off with a grey cloud forming on the horizon, and then it would move in closer and closer.  Once it got close enough it would block out the sun and it would seem as though it were night.  The winds would then pick up and the sand would blow in.  I never adventured outside during this time and I’m sure most people would have took cover inside buildings.  The worst part of the sandstorm didn’t last more than an hour but it sure did bring in a lot of sand, dirt, and dust into the air.  The sand that I saw in Jinan was from winds blowing it in from the desert in western China.   It was interesting since they provided forecasts and weather reports that predicted when these storms would happen.  Now for a gallery of pictures from a sandstorm in Iraq or just a single picture.