Khamsin

Khamsīn , chamsin or hamsin (Arabic: خمسين‎ khamsīn, "fifty"), more commonly known in Egypt as khamaseen (Egyptian Arabic: خماسين khamasīn, IPA: [xæmæˈsiːn]), is a dry, hot, sandy local wind, blowing from the south, in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Similar winds in the area are sirocco and simoom. From the Arabic word for "fifty", throughout the Levant, these dry, sand-filled windstorms often blow sporadically over fifty days, hence the name.

When the storm passes over an area, the humidity in that area drops below 5%. Even in Winter, the temperatures went higher than 45°C due the storms.

The Causes and history

Khamsin can be triggered by cyclones that move eastwards along the southern parts of the Mediterranean or along the North African coast from February to June.

In Egypt, khamsin usually arrives in April but occasionally occur between March to May, carrying great quantities of sand and dust from the deserts, with a speed up to 140 kilometers per hour, and a rise of temperatures as much as 20 °C in two hours. It is believed to blow "at intervals for about 50 days", although it rarely occurs "more than once a week and last for just a few hours at a time." A 19th-century account of khamsin in Egypt goes:

Khamsin (disambiguation)

Khamsin is a hot spring wind in the Middle East. It can also refer to: