Nairobi residents were left shaken on the evening of Thursday, October 22, when unusually powerful winds tore through several parts of the city, churning up thick clouds of dust that sharply reduced visibility and left many people bewildered.
The winds were felt most strongly in areas including South C and Nairobi West, where residents reported conditions far outside what they normally experience.
One resident, Carpathia Mzungu, described his shock at the severity of what unfolded.
“Just now, suddenly there was a very strong wind around Nairobi, mainly South C and Nairobi West. The winds brought some clouds of dust, extremely dusty! Initially it felt like rain was coming, but it was just dust . This does not look normal. In 6 years here, I’ve never seen Nairobi so dusty!” he said.
The event unfolded against a backdrop of widespread public anticipation around the onset of El Niño rains, which many Kenyans have been watching closely.
What Kenyans Said About the Nairobi Dust Storm
The incident ignited a wave of reactions online, with some attributing the conditions to environmental damage while others offered meteorological explanations.
@Rhodes wrote:
“Consequences of cutting down trees which were acting as a natural barrier. Mambo bado, wacha January ifike with heatwaves. Nations protect the tree while desert guys are spending billions to make their cities green.”
@Kones offered a detailed opinion of the situation:
“This could be a sign for El nino, it’s a phenomenon where dry gust of ocean is pushed to the land and another gust of rain bearing current flow the other way, currently in S.A – Chile, Bolivia La Nina. We often confuse the two El nino -dry, La Nina wet.”
@Melvin:
“Same here in Kimbo. Very Dusty, very strong winds. What’s not going on. Upto 21km/h.”
