Winds of Provence
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The Winds of Provence, the region of southeast France along the Mediterranean from the Alps to the mouth of the Rhone River, are an important feature of Provencal life, and each one has a traditional local name, in the Provencal language.
The most famous Provencal winds are:
- The Mistral, a cold dry northwest wind, which blows from Northwest Europe down through the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean, and can reach speeds of ninety kilometers an hour.
- The Levant (wind), a very humid east wind, which brings moisture from the eastern Mediterranean.
- The Tramontane, a strong, cold and dry north wind, similar to the Mistral, which blows from the Massif Central mountains toward the Mediterannean to the west of the Rhone.
The Marin (wind), a strong, wet and cloudy south wind, which blows in from the Gulf of Lion.
The Sirocco, a southeast wind coming from the the Sahara desert in Africa, can reach hurricane force, and brings either reddish dust or heavy rains.
The Provencal names for the winds are very similar to the names in the Catalan language:
- Tramontane (Pr.) = Tramuntana (Catalan)
- Levant (Pr.) = Lievant (Catalan)
- Mistral (Pr.) = Mestral(Catalan)
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[edit] Winds in Provencal Culture
- The winds of Provence, particularly the Mistral, have long had an influence on the architecture of Provence. The Mas (Provencal Farmhouse) , traditionally faces southeast, with its back to the Mistral, and many Provencal churches have open iron grill bell towers, which allow the Mistral wind to pass through.
- The traditional Provencal Christmas creche often features one santon, or Provencal character, holding his hat and wearing a cape billowing from the Mistral.
- The Mistral also features in Provencal literature, and in the more recent novels of Marcel Pagnol.
[edit] Names of the Winds of Provence (by points of the compass)
- Tramontane (North Wind)
- Vent droit
- Montagnére
- Brise Noire
- Grégale (Northeast Wind)
- Lombarde
- Levant-Grégale
- Auro-Bruno
- Levant (wind) (East wind)
- Auro-rosso
- Vent blanc
- Leveche
- Autan (Southeast Wind)
- Sirocco
- Simoun
- Embat
- Marin (South Wind)
- Vent de bas
- Chili
- Vent du Large
- Labech (Northwest Wind)
- Libeccio
- Garbi
- Cierco
- Ponent (West Wind)
- Traverse
- Maestro
- Galerne
- Mistral (Northwest Wind)
- Traverse-haute
- Brise
- Auro-Drecho
[edit] Sources
The wind names above are shown on a compass rose placed by the City of Toulon on the coastal path between Mourrilon and the Anse de Mejean.
French wikipedia article on [vents de France]
[edit] Bibliography
Jean Vialar, Les vents régionaux et locaux, 1948, réédité par Météo-France en 2003
