khamsin

In summer, it is swept by dust storms with wind speeds as high as forty miles an hour, known as the khamsin, and temperatures can top a hundred and twenty degrees.

During a khamsin the temperature is high and the air extremely dry, while the dust and sand carried by the wind form a thick yellow fog obscuring the sun.

The khamsin blew in hot, sandy spurts, and lulled; then came again in hotter, more shrivelling bursts "From Hell!" thought the troopers, one and all.

The heat was increasing and the desert winds brought the "khamsin" or duststorms.

It was another very hot day, with a khamsin blowing, and the hard, shelterless hill-sides were a poor place to spend it on.