Watch: Large tornado swirls through Qatar desert as country hosts World Cup
The twister happened near the city of Ras Laffan, about 50 miles north of the capital of Doha.
Tornado swirls through Qatar desert
Video shows a large twister spinning through the desert of Qatar this week.
RAS LAFFAN, Qatar – A large tornado swept through the desert in Qatar this week as the country hosts the 2022 World Cup.
Video recorded Wednesday near the coastal city of Ras Laffan, about 50 miles north of the capital of Doha, showed an enormous twister of the so-called "stovepipe" variety stirring up large amounts of dust as it spun through the desert landscape.
The Qatar Meteorology Department tweeted a radar image showing strong thunderstorms moving along the coast about the time the video was recorded.
Several other videos tweeted by the QMD on Wednesday showed a similar twister touching down in the same area, along with hail.
Qatar does see tornadoes from time to time, but outbreaks appear to be rare.
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A tornado swirls through a desert in Qatar on Dec. 7, 2022 in this image taken from video provided by Storyful.
(Kamal Pandey via Storyful / FOX Weather)
The country has been hosting the World Cup since the end of November. The tournament is approaching its end, with quarterfinal matches set to begin Friday as Croatia faces Brazil and the Netherlands meets Argentina. You can watch all the action on FOX.