Khamsin

The Chamsin (Arabic for fifty; ancient Egyptian Resetyu; Hebrew Sharav ) is a very hot and dry desert wind, which at times in Libya, Egypt and Israel / Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus in the spring usually in mid-April or early May occur in rare cases in March. The name goes back to the fact that the Chamsin always blowing average within a period beginning from the equinox 50 - day period for three to four days.

The Chamsin created by a typical change in the weather in spring and autumn, especially in a high pressure area over Mesopotamia and a simultaneous low-pressure area over the Mediterranean. The result is the inflow of hot and dry continental air ( 10-20 % relative humidity), often associated with sandstorms, the speed of the storms plays a rather minor role. The Chamsin blows from the south and west. In Israel, the temperatures reach the annual maximum values ​​during the Chamsintage (up to about 40 ° C).

In ancient Egypt, the Chamsin was known as the southerly winds ( Resetyu ), which were three days in the Nile Delta responsible for an unpleasant climate, on average, before the north winds brought relief. In ancient Egyptian mythological calendar of Nectanebo I, the Resetyu the 20th decade were ( April 10 to 19 ) and the first week of Talfestmonats assigned to: The Great God at the very beginning that gives rise to the sky, the southern winds. He is the one who creates, bitterness ... for three days. He can breathe nothing after he vomited blood.

The Chamsin can often heavily influence the sight so that it is reduced to a few meters distance. Following the Chamsin it rains almost always in the Levant. For the people of the Chamsin is due to the extreme temperatures unpleasant weather phenomenon; Israeli satirist Ephraim Kishon describes this experience as follows: " There is in us a dry, burning hot desert wind, a kind of Superschirokko, ... ( ... ) If the Chamsin blows, you can not breathe, can barely stand on his feet and feels the Wither the nerves almost like a sculptor. "

The Chamsin leads in certain weather conditions mean that sand dust penetrates to the German Rhineland, there lays down as a fine lining and is especially noticeable when contamination layer on the surface of still and moving motor vehicles.