Seasonal winds

[paul m]

Another of my hobbyhorses ... watching Liverpool playing Marseille last night I was unusually pleased not to be at the match because the Mistral was in full flight .... bringing the cold of the Alps straight to the Mediterranean ... and it is cold - do you suffer from it Eric?).

Made me wonder if there are any similar seasonal winds elsewhere in the world

[Guy F]

I've always liked the word 'Sirocco', I'm not sure what it is exactly but I think it's the autumn winds in the Mediterranean.
In Italy there is another wind called the 'Tramontana', I only know about that one because I've stayed in a hotel with the same name in the Mediterranean area before!
Guy

[Guy F]

While searching for some more information on the 'Tramontana' (seems it's called 'Tramontane' in other countries) I found this page which has a nice diagram with the Mediterranean names for each wind direction.
Turns out Sirocco is South East and Tramontane is North.
Tramontane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Guy

[paul m]

Thanks, Guy - so the Italian Tramontane is the Italian equivalent of the Mistral - off the mountains.

I'd forgotten the Sirocco - hot and dry ....

Do we have special names in Australia or the Americas?

Originally Posted by Guy F

While searching for some more information on the 'Tramontana' (seems it's called 'Tramontane' in other countries) I found this page which has a nice diagram with the Mediterranean names for each wind direction.
Turns out Sirocco is South East and Tramontane is North.
Tramontane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Guy

[ericrovve]

ringing the cold of the Alps straight to the Mediterranean ... and it is cold - do you suffer from it Eric?).

Oh yeah! Not as bad as Marseilles though. I watched the match too for a while, but I stopped when I saw what a thrashing they were getting

In Bavaria there's the feohn(sp?). That's another hot wind, I think, like the sirrocco, which we get a bit of here.

[wild worlds]

In Southern Africa we often get what is called a “Berg Wind” Hot air moves from the interior to the cooler coast and is pushed down by falling cool air as it reaches the coast.. Everywhere becomes very quiet and still, the birds stop singing, as the forces of the two air masses equalise for a while, then the wind comes along the ground back toward the interior and the temperature rockets as the hot air is pushed along at ground level as the cold air mass defeats its progress. Its quite spooky to witness. I think the scientific description is a Fron or similar.
The other seasonal winds are the “August winds”. For the six months or so of winter there are clear blue skies, no rain and little wind. Around about August the winds pick up and the clouds start to gather, signalling the start of the rainy season as the wet air comes off the Indian Ocean, funnels up the Mozambique Channel and then rises, as it hits the escarpment before falling as rain on the Highveldt. That is when we get what we call “good rains” Rain that soaks the ground, makes everything green and fills the dams, rather than “make you happy rain” which is a bit of drissle that does nothing other than keeps the dust down and remind you that there is such a thing as rain! WW

[Tanny]

In the south of Western Australia we had a regular wind arriving each day about noon and we called it the 'Fremantle Doctor' because after a morning of blistering heat the relief we felt with that wind was a tonic. On the days when it never arrives, usually in mid summer, the heat can be so oppressive.
I must mention that I don't live in Australia anymore. I now live in the Wirral, UK. and the bitter north winds make my eyes water, but by wrapping up I can keep warm not like in Australia where I couldn't keep cool apart from sitting all day in the shopping centers. Tanny.

[ericrovve]

That must have been quite a climate and culture shock, Tanny!
And Hello and welcome.

[wild worlds]

The thing I like best about forums like this, is not just the sharing of ideas and information, but also that posts often prompt me to do some further research on a subject, just for my own benefit. Seems that every county has its own names for similar types of wind. One that I like I picked up in a book by Ranulph Fiennes about his Antarctic travels, which is Katabatic an incredibly cold power full wind.
I found this page on wikipedia quite informative Katabatic wind - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WW

[paul m]

Which all reminds me of the Tower of the Winds in Athens: not given seasonal names but the winds with different 'characters'!


The Wikipedia entry Tower of the Winds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia gives more info ....

[paul m]

If March 1 is the beginning of spring then something has gone wrong with low temperatures and high winds across Europe:

Briton killed in freak rock accident in Austria - Telegraph