Education Lesson: What's Harmattan?

It's harmattan season in Ghana. What's harmattan you ask? It's a cold-dry dusty wind that travels from south from the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa to the Gulf of Guinea. The Gulf of Guinea is the body of water that is found in the "dent" of Africa.

Figure 1:

From December to March, this wind originates in the Sahara and picks up sand and dust on its way south. It drops the humidity significantly, resulting in must drier air than we normally experience in Ghana. The dust causes a hazy, fog-like scene during the season. We experienced it when we were here last January for our short visit to check out Ghana. All in all, it's not an issue in daily life, just a season that you learn to get acclimated to.

Here's a view of the harmattan from our plane ride in last week.
Figure 2:

As you can see there's blue skies, but a layer of dust/fog-like haze over the town below. While the dust is a bit annoying and requires more house sweeping than usual, it has made the temperatures much more mild. The evenings are a joy to go out for a walk without arriving at your destination all sweaty :)

And there you have it. Now you know what harmattan is.