A dense wall of dust pushed across the Arabian Peninsula in late April 2018. The large storm stretched roughly 500 kilometers (300 miles) across the peninsula. When the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi NPP captured this image on April 23, 2018, dust had nearly reached Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital and most populous city. Large sand storms in this region are often fueled by strong northwesterly winds known as the shamal.

NASA images by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.