Definition of "harmattan"

harmattan

noun
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.
  Quotations
  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
  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, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, New York: Astor-Honor, published 1959, page 1
2. A season which spans the period in which the harmattan wind blows.