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Troops Endure Blowing Sands and Mud Rain

Curve-billed Thrasher, Alamogordo NM, November 12, 2011

... The single, solitary departure from this pattern came when it suddenly rained in the early evening. What fell from the sky was not water but mud, the rain pulling suspended sand into wet globs and pelting those foolish mortals who thought they could endure a 30- or 40-hour sandstorm. The temperature was just below 100 degrees, and everyone traveling with the military wore protective chemical and biological suits that enclosed the body from head to toe, plus body armor and a helmet. ...

New York Times

clipped March 26, 2003

Collection: Natural Science