Billowing clouds of sand engulfed cities, forcing drivers to slow to a crawl while most people remained indoors.
A rare wintertime sandstorm enveloped the Saudi capital of Riyadh and other parts of the desert kingdom on Tuesday, sending dozens of residents to hospitals with respiratory ailments.
Cars and houses were covered by the yellow Saudi sand, which also forced the capital's airport to shut down for a few hours.
The handful of people who ventured outdoors while the howling sandstorm raged wore surgical face masks or kept handkerchiefs over their noses and mouths, according to local media.
The blinding storm also struck neighboring Kuwait, briefly halting oil exports and forcing the closure of the Gulf emirate's three ports.
Meteorologists say that much of the Saudi peninsula has not received rain for a third winter in a row, making desert sand so loose that it is easily whipped up into sandstorms by strong northwesterly winds.
Satellite Image: NASA