Sirocco vs. Simoom — What's the Difference?

Sirocco (), scirocco, ghibli, jugo or, rarely, siroc (see § Names below) is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season.

Simoom (Arabic: سموم samūm; from the root س م م s-m-m, سم "to poison") is a strong, dry, dust-laden wind. The word is generally used to describe a local wind that blows in the Sahara, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and the deserts of Arabian Peninsula.

A hot humid south or southeast wind of southern Italy, Sicily, and the Mediterranean islands, originating in the Sahara Desert as a dry dusty wind but becoming moist as it passes over the Mediterranean.

A strong, hot, sand-laden wind of the Sahara and Arabian Deserts

A hot or warm southerly wind, especially one moving toward a low barometric pressure center.

A hot, dry, suffocating, dust-laden wind of the desert, particularly of Arabia, Syria, and neighboring countries, generated by the extreme heat of the parched deserts or sandy plains.

A hot and often strong southerly to southeasterly wind on the Mediterranean that originates in the Sahara and adjacent North African regions.

A hot, dry, suffocating, dust-laden wind, that blows occasionally in Arabia, Syria, and neighboring countries, generated by the extreme heat of the parched deserts or sandy plains.

A draft of hot air from an artificial source of heat.

A violent hot sand-laden wind on the deserts of Arabia and North Africa

An oppressive, relaxing wind from the Libyan deserts, chiefly experienced in Italy, Malta, and Sicily.

In general, any hot dry wind of cyclonic origin, blowing from arid or heated regions, including the desert wind of Southern California, the harmattan of the west coasts of Africa, the hot winds of Kansas and Texas, the kamsin of Egypt, the leste of the Madeira Islands, and the leveche of Spain.

A windstorm that lifts up clouds of dust or sand;