harmattan

harmattan, cool dry wind that blows from the northeast or east in the western Sahara and is strongest in late fall and winter (late November to mid-March). It usually carries large amounts of dust, which it transports hundreds of kilometres out over the Atlantic Ocean; the dust often interferes with aircraft operations and settles on the decks of ships.

The harmattan is a trade wind strengthened by a low-pressure centre over the north coast of the Gulf of Guinea and a high-pressure centre located over northwestern Africa in winter and over the adjacent Atlantic Ocean during other seasons. The harmattan’s arrival may cause air temperatures in parts of western Africa to fall to 9 °C (48.2 °F). In the summer it is undercut by the cooler winds of the southwest monsoon, blowing in from the ocean and forcing the harmattan to rise to an altitude of about 900 to 1,800 metres (about 3,000 to 6,000 feet). The interaction between the harmattan and the monsoon sometimes produces West African tornadoes.