Wintry weather strikes Middle East, bringing cold, sandstorm

An ultra-Orthodox Jew holds his skullcap as strong winds and waves hit on the Mediterranean Sea in Caesarea, northern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. Wintry weather is striking across the Middle East, bringing cold weather to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a blanketing sandstorm in Cairo. AP PHOTO/ARIEL SCHALIT

Wintry weather is striking across the Middle East, bringing cold weather to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a blanketing sandstorm in Cairo.

In Lebanon, officials say they expect a snowstorm to strike Tuesday night in the Bekaa Valley, where hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria’s civil war live, many in tents.

In Egypt’s capital, Cairo, a sandstorm engulfed the city Tuesday afternoon, blocking out the sun as rush-hour afternoon traffic began.

Strong waves from the Mediterranean Sea also lashed Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that the country’s two main ports in Tartous and Latakia had been closed as winds of up to 74 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour) caused waves more than 5 meters (15 feet) high.