Levant (wind)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The levant ( ca, Llevant, it, Levante, mt, Lvant, el, Λεβάντες, es, Levante) is an easterly
wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
that blows in the western
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
and southern France, an example of
mountain-gap wind A mountain-gap wind, gap wind or gap flow is a local wind blowing through a gap between mountains. Gap winds are low-level winds and can be associated with strong winds of 20-40 knots and on occasion exceeding 50 knots. Gap winds are generally st ...
. In Roussillon it is called "llevant" and in Corsica "levante". In the western Mediterranean, particularly when the wind blows through the Strait of
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...
, it is called the Viento de Levante or the Levanter. It is also known as the Solano. When blowing moderately or strongly, the levant causes heavy swells on the Mediterranean. Usually gentle and damp, the levant frequently brings clouds and rain. When it brings good weather, it is known as the "''levant blanc''",Meteo-France website (in French) on "Vents regionaux and vents locaux" or "''levante calma''" in Gibraltar. The origin of the name is the same as the origin of the
Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
, the region of the eastern Mediterranean: it is the Latin word "levante", the participle of levare "to raise" – as in sol levante "rising sun". It thus referred to the eastern direction of the rising sun.


Etymology

The name of the wind pattern entered English from Middle French ''
levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
e'' (french: rising), the sun rises in the east, the perceived origin point of the wind and rain. It is used to describe the direction east, the wind coming from the east, as well as a general term for the lands bordering the eastern Mediterranean.


Description

The wind rises in the central Mediterranean or around the
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
and blows westwards reaching its greatest intensity through the
Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
. The winds are moist carrying
fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
and
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
in the eastern side of the Strait, but dry in the western side, as the moisture rains on the mountains between
Algeciras Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...
and Tarifa. The winds are well known for creating a particular cloud formation above the
Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Medite ...
; In
Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...
, the winds are well known for making the temperatures rise as the wind blows across the desert interior of the province. The Levanter winds can occur at any time in the year, but are most common from May to October.


The Strait of Gibraltar

The
Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
, located at the western entrance to the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
, is frequently associated with strong gap winds that can produce dangerous seas, especially when they blow against
tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
,
current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...
or swell through the Strait, which is a narrow sea-level passage about wide and long that is surrounded by terrain reaching several thousand feet. The most pronounced gap wind through the Strait, the Levanter, can produce winds of in and to the west of the gap when there is higher pressure to the east, over the Mediterranean, with lower pressure to the west of
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...
. The sinking motions accompanying such anticyclonic conditions cause stability in the low-level air flow, strongly suppressing vertical air motion and may result in the formation of an
inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...
within a few thousand feet of the surface. Such an inversion provides a cap that contains the low-level air and results in greater
topographic Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...
blocking and the acceleration of the airflow through the gap forming the Strait. Under such circumstances, the winds can go from a moderate or fresh easterly over the
Alboran Sea The Alboran Sea (from Arabic , ''al-Baḥrān'') is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa (Spain on the north and Morocco and Algeria on the south). The Strait of Gibraltar, w ...
(the western part of the Mediterranean) to
gale force The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...
strength on the western side of the Strait and to its west. Because the flow is accelerating and there is often a significant pressure gradient through the Strait, the strongest winds are not observed mid-Strait, as might be expected if the funnel mechanism was dominant; rather, the strongest winds are in the western Strait and immediately downwind to the west. Levanters are most frequent during the warm season from April until October and often reach a peak in spring, when the Mediterranean is comparatively cool, increasing the stability of the low-level air flow.


The Gibraltar levanter cloud

Sometimes the levanter forms a characteristic cloud named "banner-cloud" over the Rock of Gibraltar. However, this is not always the case and a particular set of conditions is required for its formation. Near the surface, the levanter is moist, but is unsaturated. As the moist air, which must be capped to be stable and so unable to rise by convection, is forced to rise over the Rock, the moisture condenses to form a cloud that streams away west from its top. If wind speeds are too low and stability high in the near-surface layer, the cloud does not form and condensation is also sensitive to small changes in moisture content, such that when the wind across the Rock veers into the southeast, the flow becomes too dry for the cloud to form, bringing drier air from
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. When the wind speed is too low, the air is blocked and unable to rise to form the cloud. At high wind speeds, the turbulent mixing to the lee of the Rock distributes the moisture through a comparatively deep layer and the cloud is, at best, very broken. Often it dissolves immediately west of the Rock in these turbulent windy conditions. In suitable conditions, the characteristic "pennant" cloud forms downwind. It usually extends about west from the top of the Rock in a turbulent plume. (Similar clouds may sometimes be seen elsewhere – notably the pennant cloud that forms on the
Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.) This cloud hangs over the centre of the city of
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...
, while there is usually sunny weather in to the north and south from the southern outskirts of the city. On the western side of the Rock, the winds near sea level are often from the west or southwest, as the air forms large overturning rolls, more than deep in the lee protection of the mountain, but strong winds tend to alter this flow regime. The pennant cloud is not seen in westerly winds, although many of the same processes occur - it is just that the air is usually drier and may be warmer, as well as being less stable – so that convection from the surface is deeper and not capped near the mountaintop level. (Low cloud can sometimes be seen on the Rock, early in the morning in westerly winds, but this disappears as temperatures rise. It is also likely that the very steep eastern slope of the Rock tends to make the downwind flow too turbulent for cloud formation.) Around dawn, the flow is relatively smooth through the cloud, but later in the morning, as it becomes warmer, some convective overturning develops within the plume as temperatures rise. Formation of the cloud is classically very near the top of the ridge-line of the Rock at nearly altitude, but the base is usually a little lower in the turbulent flow to the west. The top of the cloud is rarely much more than above Gibraltar Bay.


Strong winds across the Rock

When winds are very strong across the crest of the Rock, usually in excess of , the cloud becomes detached from the crest of the Rock forming west of a line parallel to the ridge up to about from it. At the same time, curved arcs of cloud may be seen within or below the pennant cloud, indicating the formation of a roll cloud. Usually, this produces light and rather variable winds near sea level, at times forming a cyclonic circulation area over Gibraltar Bay and the town. However, at times, the strong winds break away from the crest of the Rock, producing gusts to about the speed of the wind over the crest. These winds are usually northeasterly or easterly and may be several Beaufort forces stronger than the mean wind before and after.


In popular culture

* This wind is a
namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...
for a song by
Gibraltarian The Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranea ...
Flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura a ...
Metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...
band
Breed 77 Breed 77 (pronounced "Breed Seven-Seven") is an Gibraltarian rock band. The band was formed in 1996 and perform a combination of alternative metal, rock, and flamenco. Origin Breed 77 comes from the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Ol ...
, who titled a track from their 2006 ''
In My Blood (En Mi Sangre) ''In My Blood (En Mi Sangre)'' is the third studio album by Gibraltarian Flamenco metal quintet Breed 77. This album was produced by Ron Saint-Germain (The Saint) noted for his work with Soundgarden, Tool, Creed and Bad Brains. It was slate ...
'' album "''Viento De Levante''". * In his novel ''
The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...
'',
Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza (, ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel ''The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller and he has published 28 more book ...
refers to the Levante, describing the wind that brought the Moors to Spain. * The Levante is mentioned in the historical fiction novel '' The Hundred Days'' by
Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...
. * Clé: Levanter is the name of the mini-album by a Korean band
Stray Kids Stray Kids (; often abbreviated as SKZ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 reality show of the same name. The group is composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmi ...
, released on December 9, 2019. The title track of the album is also titled Levanter. * Levante is a model of the Italian car manufacturer
Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. ...
.


References

* Bendall, A. A., 1982: ''Low-level flow through the Strait of Gibraltar''. Meteor. Mag., 111, 149-153 * Dorman, C. E., R. C. Beardsley, and R. Limeburner, 1995: ''Winds in the Strait of Gibraltar''. Quart. J. Royal Met. Soc., 121, 1903–1921 * Galvin, J. F. P., A. I. Black, and D. A. Priestley, 2011: "Mesoscale weather features over the Mediterranean: Part 1". Weather, 66, 72-78 * Scorer, R.S., 1952: ''Mountain-gap winds; a study of the surface wind in Gibraltar''. Quart. J. Royal Met. Soc., 78, 53-59 * Vialar, Jean, 1948: ''Les vents régionaux et locaux'', reissued by Météo-France in 2003


External links


Meteo-France
French-language on meteorology


See also

* Winds of Provence {{DEFAULTSORT:Levant (Wind) Winds Provence Climate of France Climate of Malta