harmattan

plural harmattans

1. A dry and dusty wind which blows from the Sahara over the Atlantic coast of West Africa in December, January and February, being a hot wind in some areas and a cold wind in others.

   That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan.

   1958 June 17, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, New York, N.Y.: Astor-Honor, published 1959, →OCLC, part 1, page 1

   2 more examples

   Storm-clouds stretched their arms across the sky; from the east, to all appearances, might come a fierce harmattan, or from the south might come the fierce hurricane.

   1900, Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone Around the World

   The dry season typically lasts from December to April, when dry winds from the Sahara blow sand over much of the country. These winds are called harmattan. The particles of dust carried by the harmattan produce a yellow-white haze that blurs the horizon.

   2007, Suzanne LeVert, Cultures of the World: Sierra Leone, page 13

2. A season which spans the period in which the harmattan blows.