Sirocco ( ) or scirocco is a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

wind that comes from the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

and can reach

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

speeds in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and

Southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

, especially during the summer season.

Names

''Sirocco'' derives from '' šurūq'' (),

verbal noun Historically, grammarians have described a verbal noun or gerundial noun as a verb form that functions as a noun. An example of a verbal noun in English is 'sacking' as in the sentence "The ''sacking'' of the city was an epochal event" (wherein ...

of '' šaraqa'', related to the East, ''aš-šarq''. Various names for this wind in other languages include: * * * or ''marin'' * * * * or * * , or romanized: sirókos * or * ( sr-Cyrl, југо), in Croatia rarely ''širok'' (широк) * * or * Libyan Arabic: , romanized: , which means "coming from the

Qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

" * , which means "fifty" ("fifty-day wind") * , probably from with the same meaning as ; or * , pronounced širguī The Roman poet

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

refers to the sirocco at Trevico in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

as "Atabulus" (a Messapic word) in his account of his journey to Brundisium in 37 BC.

Development

Siroccos arise from warm, dry, tropical air masses that are pulled northward by low-pressure cells moving eastward across 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, with the wind originating in the Arabian or Sahara deserts. The hotter, drier continental air mixes with the cooler, wetter air of the maritime

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

, and the counter-clockwise circulation of the low propels the mixed air across the southern coasts of Europe.

Effects

The sirocco causes dusty dry conditions along the northern coast of Africa, storms in the Mediterranean Sea, and warm wet weather in Southern Europe. The sirocco does not affect other parts of Europe. The sirocco's duration may be as short as half a day or may last several days. While passing over the Mediterranean Sea, the sirocco picks up moisture; this results in rainfall in the southern part of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, known locally as "blood rain" due to the red sand mixed with the falling rain. Sirocco is commonly perceived as causing unease and an irritable mood in people. In addition, many people attribute health problems to the wind, either because of the heat and dust brought from African coastal regions, or because of the cool dampness further north in Europe. The dust in the sirocco winds can cause abrasion in mechanical devices and penetrate buildings. Sirocco winds with speeds of up to are most common during autumn and spring. They reach a peak in March and in November when it is very hot. When combined with a rising tide, the sirocco can cause the '' acqua alta'' phenomenon in the Venetian Lagoon. This wind also has an impact on fishing. For example, the anchovies caught in the Gulf of Trieste, near Barcola, which are in great demand as a delicacy, are caught only in a sirocco. In cold winds, like the bora, the fish disappear into the Adriatic.Georges Desrues, "Eine Lange Nacht am Meer", In: ''Triest - Servus Magazin'' (2020), p 73.

References

External links

Winds of the worldLocal Mediterranean winds
* {{Authority control Climate of Africa Climate of Europe Climate of Greece Climate of Malta Environment of Libya Environment of the Mediterranean Italian words and phrases Sahara Winds

Names

Development

Effects

See also

References

External links