Strong Winds

[Laslomas]

We have had very strong winds here all day long. It was impossible to sit out for a large part of the day as I was unable to put up a parasol for shade as the gusts were way too strong. But it was a very pleasantly warm wind. I could not work out the direction it was coming from. Has it affected most of the A.com area? Has it got a name? Sirocco, or something?

[katy]

A little windy here too, and yesterday. Although by 9pm last night not even a leaf stirring. I think it is the Levante wind that is strong.

[country boy]

It's called a "Levante", 'cause that's where it comes from...the Levante region of Eastern Spain.

[julian]

the name of the wind depends where it is coming from, if it is an unusually warm wind it could be "terral" ,comes from the land towards the sea

[costagirl]

its called leveche here in spain.

the very warm wind.

[julian]

I think the leveche wind is local to the alicante area

[El Cid]

the name of the wind depends where it is coming from, if it is an unusually warm wind it could be "terral" ,comes from the land towards the sea

That's pretty close. The Terral is a wind that affects Malaga and it is a Foen wind from the mountains. It blows down the Guadalahorce valley. I once played Golf at Guadalahorce when the Terral was blowing - half the competitors gave up because of heat stroke and dehydration! We get them in La Herradura, particularly late evening or at night and they blow from the North or North-West, sometimes at gale force.

We had one last night. At 10pm the temperature went up from 24c to 29c in half an hour and the humidity dropped to 20%. It stayed that way until 4am.

In the winter we get the same mountain winds but very cold and dry and often up to gale force 10.

So the wind that Laslomas was getting was a similar wind - very localised and almost certainly from the north rather than from the south.

The Levante (Levanter in English) is just an easterly wind that blows through the Straits of Gibraltar (the Poniente is the equivalent westerly wind). It has nothing to do with the east coast of Spain as such but if they get easterlies they would refer to them as a Levante.

The Leveche is different again. It usually blows from the south, is hot and often dusty. It tends to affect the east coast of Spain from Almeria to Valencia.The Scirocco is another name for it in other regions of the Med.

Sid

[julian]

that´s a pretty comprehensive lesson on spanish winds !

[La Raya]

The Levante (Levanter in English) is just an easterly wind that blows through the Straits of Gibraltar (the Poniente is the equivalent westerly wind). It has nothing to do with the east coast of Spain as such but if they get easterlies they would refer to them as a Levante.Sid

Sid is right. My understanding is that the term Levante originates from the name given to the eastern shores of the Med - The Levant - which is Lebanon down to Egypt. The Levante coast of Spain is named after it as it faces towards The Levant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantine

[anis]

We've just started having the evil little twister winds - first since last summer.
They are like miniature tornados, high as a man but wider and can lift a wheelie bin or break a large heavy parasol, taking it into the neighbour's garden or beyond.
They are powerful little things and often come in pairs, but only in the very hot weather, sucking up dust and debris in a spiral cone, usually at this time of year.
Anyone got them your way yet ?
I get out of their way when walking the dogs - they are quite spooky !

[Troglodyfae]

Yes we get those in the hot weather. In our neck of the woods they tend to run along the ridges on the mountain. I can often see them looking out of the kitchen window to the mountain opposite and they often come in pairs. My brother calls them dust devils, not sure if that is the correct term for them.

They can be very strong and have taken our patio umbrella for many a spin. It is a very big umbrella and is a beggar to catch, consequently it has a few war wounds, but is now chained to the concrete base to prevent further damage. A paving slab or something similar is a good idea in the base of wheelie bins and dustbins

[country boy]

We get them here too: We call them Willie Willies because that's what they call them in the Outback of Australia, which is where we were hit by one for the first time when driving a Winnibago down a dry stream bed. Blessed if it didn't rock
The ones we get here are really quite small by comparrison but still put a lot of debris in the pool and, before we were wiser, took our patio furniture away several times. We now have solid wood but the cushions go occaisionally

[tidal]

The little ones I can live with but 2 years ago these happened to us






Two at once running down the ridge lines on each side of our valley.

looking at the pics they were over 300ft high and abot 20-30m across at the base.

I apologise for the picture quality but the smaller one had just enveloped ne and my 30ft mobile home and done everything but make both it and me fly........although it tried quite hard

[Bandy]

Remember that if it happens again all you have to do when you touch down on terra firma is to follow the yellow brick road.......................

[tidal]

Yes, I remember thinking just that

[Wicksey]

I could not work out the direction it was coming from. Has it affected most of the A.com area?

We noticed that too. In fact we could see clouds going from east to west, and others south to north. We also disappeared in fog last night and it was really cold. The house filled up with quite cool air - it was weird, like having aircon on! I needed my 13.5 tog duvet last night

[Don]

We have not had cold at all for weeks but on the way home tonight a small twister was spinning over a building site next to the road and kicking up a cloud of dust.

[gerryh]

We also disappeared in fog last night and it was really cold. The house filled up with quite cool air - it was weird, like having aircon on! I needed my 13.5 tog duvet last night

Isn't the weather strange in Spain.
Lot's of micro climates
I live near Cajiz, not far from Torrox, last night was clear here and the temperature only dropped to 27C.
Today, blue skies and sunshine, no thunder, rain, hail etc.

Cheers
Gerry

[Wicksey]

I can see the Cajiz valley and it looks as murky there as it is here at the moment (although we have had some sun earlier). It's so chilly I've had to put my cardie on . Just as I acclimatise to the heat this happens, but it makes a change from the relentless hot sunshine ... . We didn't get rain either yesterday but could see the storm clouds gathering up behind the mountains. We are a bit exposed up here, to say the least, perhaps you are in a warmer valley Gerry?

[fearfulfred]

Chilly here too , 20 at the moment and looks like rain though that is probably wishful thinking
Fred