4.8.4. Cold Local Winds

There are certain local winds which originate in the snow-capped mountains during winter and move down the slopes towards the valleys. Few of important these are:

♤ ‘Mistral’ originates on the Alps and move over France towards the Mediterranean Sea through the Rhone valley. They are very cold, dry and high velocity winds. They bring down temperature below freezing point in areas of their influence. As a protective measure,

many of the houses and orchards of the Rhone valley have thick rows of trees and hedges planted to shield them from the Minstral.

♤ ‘Bora’ is a cold, dry north-easterly wind blowing down from the mountains in the Adriatic Sea region. It is also caused by pressure difference between continental Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. This is usually occurs in winter. It sometimes attain speeds of over 150 kmph.

♤ ‘Blizzard’ is a violent and extremely cold wind laden with dry snow. Such blizzards are of common occurrence in the Antarctic. Wind velocity sometimes reaches 160 kmph and temperature is as low as -70C.