Hamsin arrives,yet it’s beach time

The word hamsin comes from Egypt and has spread throughout the Arabic of the Middle East. Israelis use it colloquially too, although in more formal language, such as that of weather forecasts in the newspapers or on TV, it is replaced by the more “proper” Hebrew term sharav. And in the book of Exodus, the hamsin is called quite simply ruah. kadim, an east wind. Back in those days, it caused military problems too. When Pharaoh’s chariots, the equivalent of a modern tank brigade, pursued the Israelites to the Red Sea, “the Lord,” the Bible tells us, “caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind, all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” Then the Israelites passed through, the violent hamsin that had rolled back the water died down, and the sea returned to drown the Egyptians.This is pretty much the way hamsins behave in Israel to this day: They blow violently all night and generally weaken in the late morning or early afternoon, when a westerly sea breezes slows them down, only to pick up the next night and blow some more. They’re unnerving enough when you’re trying to sleep with the windows rattling, let alone when you’re out in the desert.

Lisa in Tel Aviv writes yesterday:

The whole world turned orange and an April dust storm blew in, covering everything in my apartment in a fine gold film. The camera doesn’t quite capture the rather apocalyptic colour of the sky, of course!

In Israel the hamsin, while it strikes from the east or northeast, has two possible points of ultimate origin far to the west. One is North Africa, Egypt or even the Sahara, from which the wind whirls around cyclonically in a great circle through Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria; the other takes the form of an anti-cyclonic high-pressure front moving across the northern Mediterranean through Turkey and again wheeling, first southward and then westward, across Mesopotamia. In either case, the wind reaches the end of its land journey over Israel — particularly, over the northern part of it — before petering out at sea.

On a positive note,Yedioth Ahronoth reports that Israel’s official bathing season on 142 beaches along Israel’s Mediterranean coast will officially open this Friday

Bat Yam beach

Bookmark this article

•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

E-mail this article to a friend

* Required Field

Your Name: *

Your E-Mail: *

Your Remark:

Friend's Name: *

Separate multiple entries with a comma. Maximum 5 entries.

Friend's E-Mail: *

Separate multiple entries with a comma. Maximum 5 entries.

Image Verification: *

 Loading ...

Close