Winds in Adriatic |
 Croatian coast abounds in different types of winds. They come and go in seasons, usually in a fairly predictable manner. Major differences in weather and climate on the Croatian Adriatic coast are mainly caused by geographical differences between northern and southern parts of the coast - hence different types of winds, temperature, number of foggy days, amount of precipitation, etc. Summer Mediterranean climate season generally starts in May. This means it starts getting warmer around the end of June and beginning of July, with temperatures culminating in August. It is important to mention for those who don't have much experience with naval activity that they shouldn't be surprised if weather suddenly gets pretty bad during the summer time! That's when so called nevere (fast moving, short-lived bad weather) appear, together with whirlwinds. Climatologically winter starts with cold, winter air distribution, spreading over the Eurasian continent, Mediterranean and Adriatic coast. With arrival of the cold air, bura and jugo start taking their turns. As a low pressure area arrives, jugo starts blowing in the Adriatic. It is a warm, humid wind which is less dangerous for sailors than bura because it comes gradually and blows in straight direction and constant force. During the winter time it blows continuously for up to ten days, and sometimes with smaller interruptions for more than two weeks. People from the coast know of "dark" jugo and "dry" jugo. "Dark" jugo is generally a permanent wind, with strong rain and thick gray clouds accompanied with low atmospheric pressure. It usually causes decreased visibility. Characteristics of "dry" jugo are more or less opposite - sunny weather, with mostly no precipitation, appears more often during spring, summer and autumn. The easiest way to recognize jugo is to notice blurriness, rise of temperature, high humidity and a high tide.  Bura is practically a symbol of the whole east Adriatic area. It is a cold, very strong and unsteady wind. It moves across mountains where it gets cold, spills over the mountain tops and hits the surface of the sea or the ground with an incredible force. You will probably notice it while you are freezing, saying that it goes through the bones. Bura appears more often during winter.During the time bura is blowing air pressure usually goes up, but the temperature drops, sometimes really drastically. It is difficult to predict, because it comes suddenly, but it is useful to know that it usually comes after noon and it’s rare during the morning. Bura decreases as you move away from the land but the waves still stay pretty strong. As jugo there are two types of bura too. High pressure area bura, which appears during dry, clear weather - you would probably feel moderate coldness, and the opposite low pressure area bura - followed by rain and cloudy skies. Because of its sudden appearing and fast development it is reasonable to say that bura is very dangerous for sailing so it is important to notice it on time. Other than those two major types of winds there are some which maybe don't have very distinctive characteristics but that does not make them any less important. One of them is tramontana. Tramontana is a northern, local, chilly, momentary wind. You will notice it more often on the south of Adriatic, followed by high air pressure and clear weather. Next would be so called levanat. It is a transitional wind, when bura turns to jugo and vice versa. Characteristics are cloudy rainy weather, which during winter can last for several days, although then it's called grego levante. Levant is not dangerous for sailing; in fact it is quite favorable. The western wind or pulenat is a cold and dangerous wind, mostly because it comes suddenly and can cause stronger unpleasant waves. It also brings heavy rain although it does not last for too long. But in general there's no worry for this particular one; it's more likely you will see it along Italian coast. Lebić – a south-western wind, stormy, with abundant precipitation. Rarely blows on Adriatic coast but when it does it's more often on south and middle of the coast. It's accompanied with rain, a drop of pressure and extremely high tide. Maestral usually blows from the NW and is typically a day-time wind. It's quite nice for sailing, it's pleasant and cool, refreshing the hot summer weather. If there's no maestral for some time you can be sure bad weather is coming. Burin - a summer wind that occurs after sunset, blows from mainland. It is not very strong, and brings stable weather. Oštro blows from the south. It's basically very similar to jugo - on the sea it creates big waves, brings rain and clouds. If you're going to sail in Croatian Adriatic, you are certainly going to experience these kinds of winds – hopefully not the really unpleasant ones! And your skipper is certainly going to be impressed by your familiarity with his local winds! |
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