Dust aerosols play an important role in the climate system. Strong dust storms also have severe social and health impacts. The 2015 severe dust storm in Syria raised concerns as to whether dust activities will increase in the region. The first step toward answering this question is to understand the dust activities driven by the natural climate variability. This work found that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation plays a dominant role in springtime dust activities in Syria in the recent decade.