Sandstorms - simooms - has long been shrouded in dark halo. No wonder they have a name - "sandstorm" means poisonous, poisoned. And such a storm is really spoiled the whole caravan. Samum observed in the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and often has the western and south-west direction. Basically it is spring and summer.

"For an hour or half hour before the rise merciless storm that dims the bright sun, overcast cloudy veil. On the horizon appears a small dark cloud. It is growing rapidly, covering the blue sky. That blew a furious rush of the first hot, stinging wind. And in a moment fades day. The clouds of burning sand mercilessly flogged all living things, close the midday sun. In the BoE and the whistle of the wind lost all other sounds. It seems that the air itself turns against you ... "- This is the description of a sandstorm, this ancient Greek historian Herodotus

These days, when the desert is crossed by roads, and above them in all directions lie the airways, the loss on the great caravan routes are no longer threatened with travelers.
For example, in 1805 sandstorm, according to many authors, covered with sand, and two thousand eighteen hundred camels. And quite possibly, the same storm destroyed in 525 BC army of the Persian king Cambyses, which he wrote and Herodotus
It happens that the testimonies of those who underwent the test element, guilty of exaggeration. But, of course - very dangerous sandstorm
The fine sand dust, which raises the strong wind that penetrates the ears, eyes, nose and throat, the lungs
Saving lives, people lie on the ground and cover your head tight clothing. It happens that from suffocation and heat, sometimes reaching up to fifty degrees, they lose consciousness.
Many desert storms owe their birth passing cyclone that offend, and deserts. There is another reason - in the desert in the hot season reduced atmospheric pressure. Burning sand strongly heated air near the ground. As a result, it rises up and rush to replace him with a very high velocity flows over cold dense air. Formed small local cyclones, sandstorms give birth.