CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — The sandstorms are coming. And a little earlier this year than usual in Iraq, officials say.

In early May, a rare haboob, or wall of sand, blew through Iraq. Starting at the Syrian border, it cast a 5,000-foot wall of sand across Al Asad Airfield and sandblasted everything in its path to Baghdad, said Gunnery Sgt. Steven Saxton, chief of II Marine Expeditionary Force’s Meteorological and Oceanography, or METOC unit, at Camp Fallujah.

“You don’t see those that often … but they can happen at anytime,” he said. When they do, they are pretty amazing sights rivaled only by scenes out of the movie “The Mummy,” Marines said.

The season of blinding sandstorms and soaring temperatures in Iraq is fast approaching in the western section of the country.

Normally, mid-June marks the beginning of shamal, which hits the western region of Iraq and is a 40-day period in which winds stir up sands of the arid and barren land and create sandstorms that can last for days at a time, Saxton said.

It’s the time when high pressure systems in Iraq are dominant and — coupled with temperatures that will reach the 120-degree mark by July — dry the air and land and easily displace sand.

Already, the region has been smacked with a handful of sandstorms, briefly knocking down communications for some units and grounding aircraft. Still, the sandstorms have not been bad enough to hinder military planning, said Lt. Col. Richard Miles, executive officer for the Marine Corps’ Regimental Combat Team-8.

“They were mild sandstorms that didn’t impact operations,” he said.

But the storms have proven fatal. On May 3, two Bulgarian soldiers were killed in a car accident during a sandstorm. Last year, a 2nd Infantry Division soldier was killed in what officials described as “brownout” conditions. And early reports suggest the incident that killed two Marine F/A-18 aviators last week likely occurred when their planes collided during a sandstorm.

The worst incident came in mid-January, when a Marine CH-53D helicopter crashed near the Syrian border, killing all 31 aboard.

Along with the storms, the searing temperatures give commanders more cause for concern, Miles said. As a general rule, troops can expect to add 10 degrees to the outside temperature if they are going to be outdoors in body armor, Saxton said.

With satellite feeds and computer programs, forecasters can quite accurately predict a weather pattern about 96 hours out, he said.

“The Marine METOC has a unique capability in the theater of Iraq: We’re the only service that has Doppler radar in theater,” Saxton said. “The Doppler radar is a crucial tool for forecasters to predict in the short-term how severe or strong storms are and help track dust storms.”

“They also help provide the other meteorology departments in the other services … to have ‘eyes in the west’ to help them see what is coming their way from down stream.”