In the spring and summer, the days are miserably hot and the nights are very cold.[1] The Sirocco (Gibleh or Ghibli), a hot desert wind, blows clouds of fine sand, which reduces visibility to a few yards and coats eyes, lungs, machinery, food and equipment; motor vehicles and aircraft need special oil filters and the barren ground means that water and food as well as military stores have to be transported from outside.[2]