THE SUMMER WINDS

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.

 

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

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.

Jugo weather

I think Zeljko's ability to read the winds and predict the weather perhaps exceeds the Mareta Stone weather forecaster we saw in Korcula. 

Thanks for reading... Much more to come.