Dust and Rain

Last night it poured in Niamey. Aside from a few scattered drops here and there, this is the first rain since September and ought to mark the end of the dry season.

I was out running errands in town at about 6:30 and I saw a towering red cloud of dust bearing down on the city. People had told me that these big early season rains are often preceded by dust storms, but it was a much more dramatic event than I had expected. This giant, churning red wall just kept getting closer and closer, then within the space of about 30 seconds it went from full daylight to being dark enough that you couldn't drive without headlights (I was driving at the time). The wind whipped up and the dim light that remained was eerily red.

The rain came maybe 30 minutes later and didn't waste any time in exposing the places where my roof leaks, the biggest leak being, of course, directly above my TV, cable box, and DVD player.

My description here really doesn't do justice to how cool this dust storm was. I'll try and get some pictures next time it happens.