abcnews.com Last Update: Tuesday, March 25, 2003. 1:34am (AEDT) Sandstorm slows progress of 101st Airborne A howling sandstorm Monday in the desert of southern Iraq -- rather than Iraqi resistance -- slowed the advance of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division toward Baghdad, a US officer said. Army meteorologists said bad weather could hamper movements through Wednesday in the four-day-old campaign to unseat Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The division was moving up from the southwest on the left flank of the US Army's Third Infantry Division but was stop-and-go, buffeted by strong winds and hampered by poor visibility. The dust storm was so strong it blew over a 5,000 gallon fuel tanker, injuring one soldier, officers said. They wanted to send in a Black Hawk helicopter to evacuate him but were unable because of the winds. -----Original Message----- Offutt Base Feeds Weather Info To U.S. Troops Center Processes Satellite Weather Data POSTED: 8:32 a.m. CST March 23, 2003 OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- In the basement of a building where WWII bombers were once built lies the heart of a crucial operations center for U.S. troops in Iraq: the Air Force Weather Agency. The agency is feeding weather information to U.S. and allied troops, ranging from operation-hindering events like sand storms to quality-of-life tidbits such as how hot it will get in the Iraqi desert on any given day. The agency is housed in Offutt Air Force Base's Martin Bomber building, birthplace of the Enola Gay that delivered the A-bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. The assembly area for that most famous of planes now houses $180 million in computer equipment in a classified room that processes satellite-gathered weather information. Col. Bill Burnette is vice commander of the agency. He said the agency's dust storm forecast has actually shown to be 90 percent accurate, and can be predicted three to five days out. Burnette said meteorological and forecast information delivered by the agency has been most important as the U.S. led war on Iraq began last week. Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press -----Original Message----- Sandstorm Clouds Are Gathering for Troops in Southern Iraq March 23, 2003 By ANDREW C. REVKIN For the first time since the war began, American-led forces in and around Iraq will face the fury of a powerful dust storm and sandstorm starting Monday night, meteorologists are predicting. American military officials said the conditions, while limiting helicopter flights and hampering other operations, could also offer tactical advantages because many advanced weapons systems and sensors can penetrate the choking dust. But the approaching storm system is particularly potent, the forecasters said, and will probably create significant challenges for forces in the desert. In addition, temperatures around Baghdad are predicted to climb on Monday in advance of the storm to unusually high readings for this time of year, reaching 90 degrees, weather experts said. The storm system was spawned early in the week over Russia, blanketing Moscow in heavy snow. By the time it reaches southern Iraq, forecasters said, it will be largely empty of moisture and transform into a dust storm and sandstorm nearly twice as powerful as the one that grounded helicopters and limited troop movements in Kuwait on Wednesday. Winds are likely to exceed 50 miles per hour in gusts in southern Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, said meteorologists at Accuweather.com, a commercial weather forecasting company. The dust storm last Wednesday blew at about 20 to 30 m.p.h. In northern Iraq, the powerful front is likely to produce rain that would limit dust clouds. But the precipitation is unlikely to reach southern Iraq, where troops are advancing into the country from Kuwait, so nothing will prevent gale-force gusts. In the desert region, storms this intense can limit visibility to less than 100 feet. Some American troops use heat-sensing gunsights that can detect a human body or hot engine even in fairly thick dust. Satellite-guided bombs are not hampered. But even the most advanced attack helicopters are put at great risk by such conditions, military experts said. For soldiers on the ground, the dust and sand add yet another dimension of discomfort in a situation where they are already faced with warming temperatures and the constant threat that they may have to wear gas masks and other protective gear. The likelihood of more such storms will ebb in the coming weeks, but temperatures will build, weather forecasters say. March in southern Iraq began with daily highs averaging around 69 degrees, but the daily high will be 75 by April and 110 by June, said Ken Reeves, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather. "If you have to endure that kind of heat in the biohazard suits they have to put on, it can get very difficult," he said. Military officials said American forecasting efforts are aimed not only at enduring the most adverse weather but also at exploiting such conditions, given that they affect both sides in a conflict. "The U.S. military is without a doubt the best in the world at exploiting the environment and the weather to a tactical advantage," said Capt. Jeffrey Bacon, the commanding officer at the Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Norfolk, Va. The Virginia center belongs to a network of forecasting centers run by the various military services that are feeding weather information to commanders of the Iraq invasion. Technology can help overcome the limitations imposed by weather, but even so, wind-driven dust can damage sensitive equipment, cause respiratory illnesses and generally make life miserable, military officials said. "It's so fine it just gets into everything, no matter how much you seal things up," said Cmdr. Archer Wright of the Navy, who until last August served in Bahrain as the joint meteorologist-oceanographer supervising forecasting for the attacks in Afghanistan. Early spring is prime time for dust in the gulf region, said Trevor Wallis, a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He said it was typical in the spring for strong winds to sweep east and south from the Mediterranean over Iraq every four or five days. Iraq gets particularly hard hit, he said, because much of it lies in a natural "wind tunnel" formed by the high mountain ranges of Turkey and Iran to the north and east. The mountains force the storm systems to curve down across the relatively flat terrain of southern Iraq and out past Kuwait into the Persian Gulf. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/international/worldspecial/23CLIM.html?ex= 1049528330&ei=1&en=a3f4748cf1e477d5 Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company -----Original Message----- Friday, March 21, 2003 Intense sand, dust storms due in Iraq next week 50-mph wind gusts could limit troops By ANDREW C. REVKIN THE NEW YORK TIMES A powerful storm system is likely to pummel military forces in and around Iraq with blinding sand and choking dust beginning Monday night, meteorologists predicted yesterday. Next week's dust storm, the same weather system that blanketed Moscow with heavy snow yesterday, probably will be nearly twice as strong as the one that grounded helicopters and limited troop movements in Kuwait on Wednesday, private and government meteorologists said. Winds are expected to exceed 50 mph in gusts in southern Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, said meteorologists at Accuweather.com, a commercial forecasting company. The dust storm Wednesday blew through at about 20 to 30 mph. Potentially further hampering early military action, temperatures around Baghdad are predicted to climb unusually high Monday ahead of the storm front, reaching 90 degrees, weather experts said. Following the early taste of summer heat, the winds should peak Tuesday, meteorologists said. In northern Iraq next week, the powerful front is likely to produce rain that will limit dust clouds. But the precipitation is not expected to reach the south, where troops are rolling into the country from Kuwait, so nothing will prevent gusts of 40 to 50 mph from scouring the earth and raising thick veils of dust. In the region, storms this intense can limit visibility to less than 100 feet. Some American troops can use heat-sensing gun sights that can detect targets even in fairly thick dust. Satellite-guided bombs are not hampered. But even the most advanced attack helicopters are put at great risk by the heavy dust, military experts said. For soldiers, the dust adds yet another dimension of discomfort. They already face warming temperatures and the constant threat of dangerous gases that will require them to wear gas masks and other protective gear. The chances of powerful storms will ebb in the coming weeks, but temperatures probably will keep rising. March in southern Iraq began with daily highs averaging about 69 degrees, but the daily high will be 75 by April and 110 by June, said Ken Reeves, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather. "If you have to endure that kind of heat in the biohazard suits they have to put on, it can get very difficult," he said. Military officials said American forecasting efforts were aimed at exploiting bad conditions, given that they equally affect each side in a conflict. "The U.S. military is without a doubt the best in the world at exploiting the environment and the weather to a tactical advantage," said Capt. Jeffrey Bacon, the commanding officer at the Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Norfolk, Va. The Virginia center belongs to a network of forecasting centers run by the military.