European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 20, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3grists in the null blowing dust just wait until Shamal sweeps in by Vince Crawley staff writer with the . Air Force saudi Arabia a when the autumn dust storms arrive probably next month troops in operation desert shield can blame them on Iraq. The arabian North wind called a Shamal starts brewing in Saddam Hussein a neck of the desert then crosses hundreds of Miles of Flat open space before reaching american troop locations in saudi Arabia. A by the time it gets Here its just a choking Cloud of dust a said capt. Judy Dickey an air Force weather officer with the 1st tac fighter Wing from Langley fab a. U if winds reach 35 to 40 knots visibility is about Zero. A a a Stephen Mikiska forecasters said troops can expect one or two such Shamal storms in november with More in december. Blowing dust already is invading some base Camps particularly up North and gis Are mistakenly referring to these As shamans. The real thing is yet to come. A Shamal is so enormous it can be spotted on satellite weather photos Dickey said. Dust Clouds Rise thousands of feet and an observer on the ground will see a huge Brown smudge approaching from the North. The Good news is that the worst part lasts just a couple of hours like a storm front that Rains Sand instead of water. Simply put the phenomenon is a saudi arabian cold front air Force staff sgt. Stephen Mikiska said. A cold fronts bring a lot of wind and dust and on rare occasions thunderstorms a said the 27-year-old Weatherman from Vincennes ind. A if winds reach 35 to 40 knots visibility is about Zero and you can become engulfed in blowing dust. Air operations shut  Gulf briefs donations sought to buy troops radios batteries Washington apr . Radio stations have received pledges of $30,000 and Are seeking More donations to buy radios and batteries for american troops in the persian Gulf Region the National association of broadcasters said thursday. The first shipment of radios has arrived in the Gulf thanks to the air lift listener donation Campaign a a  launched last month in conjunction West Ghouse electrics group w radio. Another g,uu0 batteries and receivers including 5,000 from Sony will been route to the Middle East by next week the association said. The armed forces radio and television service has re broadcasting to . Troops in the Region. Uther manufacturer contributions Are expected but the Public is urged to Send Cash donations to buy More needed approved receivers it donations of radios Are not contributions should be made by Check or Money is Payslee to air lift Rockefeller Center Box 5493, new York n.y., 10185.swiss unable to make heat resistant chocolate Dahav Inpil  Choc late makers said Fri Al Ltd a disappoint . Army officials who desert ances 2 Malang chocolate resistant to m a Ops have complained that chocolate owned Ioley at us and Swerland a re in f2� late a a Dusty was asked if it could help. Tobler reported sch not and and suchard chocolate e is no wayt0 Mae heat resistant  Coco ate its made with Cocoa butter higher Al time War my ush another and of fat with a makeittnedlbfef0m 8 tropical chocolate a would rain might sound refreshing to the troops sitting it out in desert Foxholes. But like everything else connected with saudi weather rainfall is extreme. The Eastern coast of the arabian Peninsula for example gets 5 inches of precipitation a year almost All of it in the Winter. But this Falls during a handful of downpours. Result Flash flooding in Barren looking ravines called wadis. A bad really bad a said one Supply sergeant who lived through a saudi thunderstorm. A but an hour later the ground was Day again. And  humid too. The thunderstorms Are not like anything in the Midwest or Eastern United states Dickey said. The Clouds Are High. There a plenty of lightning but the torrent of water Falls in a fairly Small area a a like an Arizona thunderstorm a she said. All this rain and wind will be fairly rare. Winter in saudi Arabia is predictably sunny. December through february the highs Are in the of near the coast with nighttime lows in the 40s. The record Low is 31. Believe it or not Dickey said this has been a a Nice Cool  during August the High in the area near the military ports was just 115 compared with the record of 148. These Days the Mercury has dropped to around 100. It even fell into the double digits four times in the first two months of the . Deployment. Inland it gets hotter. In mid september of this mild year some . Outposts measured nearly 130 degrees. Those working at the ports get humidity instead. Usually the wind comes monotonously from the Northwest but in autumn it shifts to the East for about two Days out of 10, Dickey said. To the East is the persian Gulf where water temperatures Are now about 90 degrees. On an average Day the humidity near the coast is 40 percent said senior airman Kerry Malchose a 30-year-old Weatherman from Saint Joseph to. But when the wind comes in Over the persian Gulf the humidity Here a the hot and cold of it in saudi Arabia s Eastern province. Record High 148� record Low 31� Augustus High 115� this year temperatures should drop 10 degrees per month through january. January a highs average in the 70s the lows Are in the 40s. Temperatures begin rising again in february. Source . Air forces amps Susan Harris jumps to 90 percent and people can become drenched m sweat a even when standing still. A a that a when you can Cut it with a knife a Malchose said. This humid wind causes Low fog that sometimes creeps far Inland. Usually it bums off within an hour after Sunrise. The same goes for the High stringy Clouds that sometimes wander in from the Gulf. The hardiest of these Are gone by noon. That a about it for saudi arabian weather except to add one Small Point among saudis the heat the rain and the wind Are considered no More unforgiving than the rest of the desert. When Dickey arrived in Early August for example she touched base with the saudi air Force so she could talk to the local weather staff. There Wasny tone. A Well a the pilots told her a we just take off. If there a fog it will dissipate. If there a a Shamal it will  Mac to deliver Gulf mail by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Stuttgart Germany a military Airlift come flights will become the primary Means for getting stateside mail to operation desert shield troops a . European come official said Friday. The switch from commercial to direct military flights should allow faster delivery to troops deployed in saudi Arabia and prevent military mail pileup at european airports said army it. Col. Ronald Roughead the adjutant general at the commands Patch Barracks Headquarters in Stuttgart. Roughead said the change took effect Friday for mail being shipped from Washington and has been in effect since wednesday for mail coming from Chicago. The schedule Calls for military flights to carry most military mail from san Francisco by nov. 5, and from new York and other Domestic Points by nov. 7. Small amounts of mail will continue to travel on commercial flights Roughead said. Military mail sent from Europe to saudi Arabia May travel by either military or Coati Mercial flights. The military is handling Between 50 tons and 100 tons of mail to or from the Middle East each Day. The 7025th air postal so and . Army postal group Europe Are m daily Contact with military postal officials in new York to find out How much mail is heading abroad and to coordinate the use of space on trans Atlantic flights. Mail backlogs dogged the Start of operation desert shield resulting in a 33-ton pileup in London for four Days m september. After that military postal workers began spreading Gulf bound mail More evenly among airports at five a a Gateway cities in Europe Brussels Frankfurt London Paris and occasionally Amsterdam. There s very Little that stays on the ground in Europe for More than 48 hours a Roughead said. A and More often than not it comes in one Day and is Cone the  once full use of direct military flights is in place next month even that Transfer time will be unnecessary. Roughead said he expects the volume of mail bound for saudi Arabia to double during the december Holiday Pend and that such a Load would not overtax the delivery system. Christmas deadlines for desert Schwet Zingen Germany a amps a deadlines for Christmas mail to or from the Middle East Are the same As those Between Europe and the United states. Bill Tyler a spokesman for the army postal group in Europe said Friday that mail leaving the operation desert shield theater will arrive in Europe or the United states on time if mailed by the Standard deadlines. A these deadlines Are backed up so far anyway that As Long As people meet the deadlines we done to think desert shield will cause any problems Ulyier said. Christi rms packages travelling Between Europe and the Middle East should be mailed by dec. 14 if sent by parcel Airlift. There is no space available service for mail Between Europe and the Middle East. Deadlines for packages being mailed from the United states to the Middle East should be posted by nov 3 if sent by space available and by nov. 10 if sent by parcel Airlift. J space available rates Are lower than parcel Airlift. Letters and cards from the United states to the Middle East should be mailed by nov. 26. Mail bound for Europe from the Gulf arrives in about a Day and mail bound for the United states in three Days he said