Simoom

Simoom (Arabic: سموم‎‎ samūm; from the root س م م s-m-m, سم "to poison") is a strong, dry, dust-laden local wind that blows in the Sahara, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and the deserts of Arabian Peninsula. Alternative spellings include samiel, sameyel,samoon, samun, simoun, and simoon. Its temperature may exceed 54 °C (129 °F) and the humidity may fall below 10%. Simoom winds have an alternative type occurring in the region of Central Asia known as "Garmsil" (гармсель).

The storm moves in cyclone (circular) form, carrying clouds of dust and sand, and produces on humans and animals a suffocating effect. The name means "poison wind" and is given because the sudden onset of simoom may also cause heat stroke. This is attributed to the fact that the hot wind brings more heat to the body than can be disposed of by the evaporation of perspiration.

A 19th-century account of simoom in Egypt reads:

Egypt is also subject, particularly during the spring and summer, to the hot wind called the "samoom," which is still more oppressive than the khamasin winds, but of much shorter duration, seldom lasting longer than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. It generally proceeds from the south-east or south-south-east, and carries with it clouds of dust and sand.

The only ever recorded simoom wind in North America occurred on June 17, 1859 in Goleta and Santa Barbara, California. During the morning, the temperature hovered around the normal 24 to 27 °C (75 to 81 °F), but around 1PM strong super hot winds filled with dust began to blow from the direction of the Santa Ynez Mountains to the north. By 2 p.m., the temperature reached 56 °C (133 °F). This temperature was recorded by an official US coastal survey vessel that was operating in the waters just offshore, in the Santa Barbara Channel. At 5 p.m., the temperature had dropped to 50 °C (122 °F), and by 7 p.m., the temperature was back to a normal 25 °C (77 °F). The US government report stated that "Calves, rabbits and cattle died on their feet. Fruit fell from trees to the ground scorched on the windward side; all vegetable gardens were ruined. A fisherman in a rowboat made it to the Goleta Sandspit with his face and arms blistered as if he had been exposed to a blast furnace."

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Wikipedia