WEATHER
FORECASTING IN CROATIA
The wind
is important to the Croatians living along the Dalmatian coast. Sailing and
windsurfing and swimming and even driving can all be influenced by the winds
that fill the sails and warm or cool the waters or deposit grit and sand along
the roadways.
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| HOMERIC WIND ROSE |
Although
we spent a week with the Unforgettable Croatia cruise line boating through the
Dalmatian Islands, we had no inkling of the importance of the wind and how its capriciousness
could affect the day. It wasn’t until we stayed with our friends Zeljko and
Hana at their summer home in Trpanj on the Peljasac Peninsula that the summer winds
became a daily topic of conversation.
During their
time in Trpanj, a summer town on the northern edge of the peninsula, Zeljko and
Hana spend a lot of time on or in the water, and depending on the wind the
water would be warm or cold, the sky clear or cloudy, the sailing pleasant or
haphazard. Zeljko would accurately predict the weather and even the water temperature
for the next day just by the prevailing winds with the whole prognostication
given a romantic and mysterious twist by referring to the winds by name.
WIND ROSES
Maestral
comes from the north and Jugo from the south and during our week with our
friends these two winds were mentioned the most, although there are several. Since the ancient Greeks Mediterranean winds have been named and
Homer referred to the four main winds in the Iliad and the Odyssey as Boreas,
Eurus, Notus and Zephryos. Later the Greeks Romans and Venetians expanded their wind roses to include seasonal winds like the Northwesterly Maestral and the Levanat from
the east.
Maestral
The
Maestral is a good wind. It is a cooling afternoon wind that usually means the
weather patterns are stable. It doesn’t create big waves and the water is warm
with this wind. We were in Zeljko’s boat when he pointed out the Maestral
causing ripples in the water in the distance and over time the ripples reached the
shore. The swimming at our favorite jumping in beach was warm.
Jugo
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| Maestral weather |
A few days
into our visit a rare Jugo wind came and our hosts warned us the next day would
be rainy. They were correct! The Jugo is more frequent in the autumn and can
reach speeds of 50 knots. It can be a danger to sailors. A Jugo wind comes from
the south and it brings lots of rain. That night we had a crackling thundershower,
in an area that averages just three days of rain each July. The next day was cloudy
with the sun finally cascading fully in the late afternoon. Still the water was
cool and there was a stronger current.
Zeljko
said when the Jugo becomes the prevailing wind in late summer and into autumn
it is dangerous for drivers. Sand and grit, kicked up by the Jugo wind, causes slippery
conditions on the curving roads of Croatia, but after the first blustery days this
hazard abates.
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| Jugo weather |
