Haboob
[hə-BOOB]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Arabic, late 19th century
1.
A violent and oppressive wind blowing in summer, especially in Sudan, bringing sand from the desert.
Examples of Haboob in a sentence
"You'll need scarves and goggles for your trip to protect against the sand brought by the haboob."
"We couldn't leave the house for a whole day while the haboob was blowing."
About Haboob
In Arabic, "habūb" means "blowing furiously." This word has proven to be quite useful to describe the strong sandy winds blowing across the Sudan, but other desert climate residents have also adopted the word.
Did you Know?
Every gust of wind doesn't count as a haboob, but a group of Arizona meteorologists decided that the intense dust storms that swept across Phoenix in 1971 qualified. They described wind speed, a rise in humidity and a drop in air temperature that all counted as "classic haboob characteristics."
