It’s hot, stuffy and windy in Beirut. The air is full of dust, as you can see from the picture. You cannot see across town, let alone see the mountains. It’s four o’clock now in the afternoon, but the light is like it is at dusk. It gives an eerie atmosphere.
This is the annual Khamsin, or sandstorm. You don’t get sandstorms in Holland, and usually not in Lebanon either, even though it is the Middle East. But once a year, we get the Khamsin.
Here’s an article form the BBC.
“In the eastern Mediterranean there is a wind that blows out from Libya and Egypt known as the Khamsin. This is a wind which is hated by the people living there and indeed in the centuries passed was dreaded as a killer. During the period February to June we still get depressions moving eastwards along the southern parts of the Mediterranean, or along the North African coast, and these can trigger the onset of the Khamsin wind. The name Khamsin is derived from the Arabic word for 50, which generally refers to the fact that this local Saharan wind blows for about 50 days every year.Ahead of these low pressure areas the wind blows from the south or southeast off the hot Saharan desert. The temperature can be in excess of 40 Celsius, 104 degrees Fahrenheit, but to make things worse the humidity is very low. So as this wind blows across Libya, Egypt and as far east as Saudi Arabia, it desiccates or dries up everything in its path.As well as that it carries large amounts of sand and dust making the sun go a deep orange and giving a very eerie feeling to those living there with frequent blasting sandstorms.”
We don’t get the full force of it in Lebanon, and in my 16 years in the country, the sky only once turned an eerie orange and it doesn’t last 50 days either here. But today is definitely the start of the Khamsin.
As you can see, today I don’t have anything to say. I did go skiing, but the snow was soup. Two years ago I almost broke my neck in snow like this, and lay paralyzed for a good half hour on the slope as everyone was skiing past me. I was then contemplating how I would make my house wheel chair accessible. I was transported to the hospital with waling sirens. As I have no intention that this is going to happen to me again, then this was probably the last time I skied this year.
This is the annual Khamsin, or sandstorm. You don’t get sandstorms in Holland, and usually not in Lebanon either, even though it is the Middle East. But once a year, we get the Khamsin.
Here’s an article form the BBC.
“In the eastern Mediterranean there is a wind that blows out from Libya and Egypt known as the Khamsin. This is a wind which is hated by the people living there and indeed in the centuries passed was dreaded as a killer. During the period February to June we still get depressions moving eastwards along the southern parts of the Mediterranean, or along the North African coast, and these can trigger the onset of the Khamsin wind. The name Khamsin is derived from the Arabic word for 50, which generally refers to the fact that this local Saharan wind blows for about 50 days every year.Ahead of these low pressure areas the wind blows from the south or southeast off the hot Saharan desert. The temperature can be in excess of 40 Celsius, 104 degrees Fahrenheit, but to make things worse the humidity is very low. So as this wind blows across Libya, Egypt and as far east as Saudi Arabia, it desiccates or dries up everything in its path.As well as that it carries large amounts of sand and dust making the sun go a deep orange and giving a very eerie feeling to those living there with frequent blasting sandstorms.”
We don’t get the full force of it in Lebanon, and in my 16 years in the country, the sky only once turned an eerie orange and it doesn’t last 50 days either here. But today is definitely the start of the Khamsin.As you can see, today I don’t have anything to say. I did go skiing, but the snow was soup. Two years ago I almost broke my neck in snow like this, and lay paralyzed for a good half hour on the slope as everyone was skiing past me. I was then contemplating how I would make my house wheel chair accessible. I was transported to the hospital with waling sirens. As I have no intention that this is going to happen to me again, then this was probably the last time I skied this year.
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