My Sinuses Can Predict Israeli Heat Waves (Hamsin)

Yes, it's true. My sinuses have magical powers.

I realized this last night when I woke up in a sudden sneezing fit that involved runny nose-ness and a strange sensation that I may not ever be the same again.

After I finally sneezed myself silly and collapsed back into sleep after exhausting my nose muscles (do I even have nose muscles?)  I woke up, showered, and decided it was up to me to figure out who or what the culprit was.

Only after I opened my living room window to breathe in the humid, dust-filled, gloomy gray air did I put two and two together.

Hamsin.  The Israeli hamsin (which comes from the Arabic word khamsīn) is characterized by what looks like a dark cloud of sand hanging over the sky, trapping in heat and humidity and making everyone living beneath it uncomfortable. In Tel Aviv they are the wooooorrrrrrrst.

Photo Credit: Baba Yagada

Its totally gross and only escapable if you have full-blast high-power air-conditioning. (which, of course, I don't being semi-poor and more-than-somewhat concerned with the environment.)

The painting above is an spot-on representation of a typical day in a Tel Aviv Hamsin full of hot sand-filled winds.

So, weathermen, if you are looking for a young, hard-working professional who can help you predict the hottest and most grueling Hamsins, I'm your gal.