Dictionary:

sirocco

  (sə-rŏk'ō) also scirocco (shə-, sə-)

1. A hot humid south or southeast wind of southern Italy, Sicily, and the Mediterranean islands, originating in the Sahara Desert as a dry dusty wind but becoming moist as it passes over the Mediterranean.
2. A hot or warm southerly wind, especially one moving toward a low barometric pressure center.

[Italian, from Arabic šarq, east.]

A southerly or southeasterly wind current from the Sahara or from the deserts of Saudi Arabia which occurs in advance of cyclones moving eastward through the Mediterranean Sea. The sirocco is most pronounced in the spring, when the deserts are hot and the Mediterranean cyclones are vigorous. It is observed along the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco to Syria as a hot, dry wind capable of carrying sand and dust great distances from the desert source. The sirocco is cooled and moistened in crossing the Mediterranean and produces an oppressive, muggy atmosphere when it extends to the southern coast of Europe. See also Air mass; Wind.

For more information on sirocco, visit Britannica.com.

This article is about the Mediterranean wind. For other uses, see Sirocco (disambiguation).

A sirocco from Libya blowing dust over the Mediterranean, Malta, Italy, and Greece

A sirocco from Morocco blowing dust over the Alboran Sea, Gibraltar, and southern Spain

Sirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known locally as the qibli (قبلی i.e. "coming from the qibla".)

Origin of name

Scirocco and Sirocco are Italian names from which the Greek word for the wind, "σιρόκος" (sirokos), is derived, while jugo is its name in Croatia and Montenegro, and ghibli in Libya. The sirocco reaching the south of France contains more moisture and is known as the marin. The name of sirocco in the southwest of Spain is leveche, or llebeig in Catalan. The leveche usually carries red Sahara dust and is associated with storms and heavy rain, the wind being very strong, lasting about 4 days. In Malta, it is known as xlokk.^[1]

Development

It arises from a warm, dry, tropical airmass that is pulled northward by low-pressure cells moving eastward across the Mediterranean Sea, with the wind originating in the Arabian or Sahara deserts.^[2] The hotter, drier continental air mixes with the cooler, wetter air of the maritime cyclone, 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 cold, wet weather in Europe. The Sirocco's duration may be a half day or many days. Many people attribute health problems to the Sirocco either because of the heat and dust along the African coastal regions or the cool dampness in Europe. The dust within the Sirocco winds can degrade mechanical devices and invade domiciles.

These winds with speeds of almost 100 kilometres per hour are most common during the autumn and the spring. They reach a peak in March and in November, with a maximum speed of about 100 km/h (55 knots).

Similar winds

Other prominent wind systems in the region are the bora/bura/burja (northwestern) and the llebeig/lebeccio/lebić (southwestern).

See Also

• Bora (wind)
• Etesian
• Gregale
• Khamaseen
• Levantades
• Leveche
• Marin (wind)
• Mistral (wind)

References

1. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica. Scirocco/xlokk Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
2. ^ Golden Gate Weather Services. Names of Winds. Retrieved on 2006-12-28.

External Links

• Names of Winds
• Local Mediterranean winds

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - scirocco

Nederlands (Dutch)
sirocco, hete wind

Français (French)
n. - sirocco

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schirokko

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μετεωρ.) σιρόκο(ς)

Italiano (Italian)
scirocco

Português (Portuguese)
n. - siroco (m)

Русский (Russian)
сирокко, "сирокко" (центробежный вентилятор)

Español (Spanish)
n. - siroco

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sirocko

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
从非洲吹向南欧一带的非洲热风, 热风, 西罗科风

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 從非洲吹向南歐一帶的非洲熱風, 熱風, 西洛可風

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 시로코 (아프리카에서 남유럽으로 몰아쳐 오는 열풍), 비를 몰고 오는 무더운 남동풍

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - シロッコ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ريح حارة مزعجه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סירוקו - רוח חמה ונושאת גשם ואבק הנושבת מצפון אפריקה לדרום אירופה‬

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