List of local winds

Graphic representation of local winds on world map

The list covers regional and local winds and local weather phenomena including seasonal wind

A-B

• Abrolhos (Portuguese elisionast of Brazil)
• Alisio (easterly trade wind in the Caribbean)
• Alize (northeasterly across central Africa and the Caribbean)
• Alizé Maritime (wet, fresh northerly wind across west central Africa)
• Amihan (northeasterly wind across the Philippines)
• Autan (warm, föhn-type southeasterly wind in the Mediterranean Languedoc region)
• Barguzin wind (steady, strong wind on Lake Baikal in Russia)
• Bayamo (violent wind on Cuba's southern coast)
• Berg (South African katabatic wind)
• Bise (cold, northern wind in France and northeastern wind in Switzerland)
• Brickfielder (hot and dry wind in Southern Australia)
• Böhm (cold, dry wind in Central Europe)
• Bora (northeasterly from eastern Europe to northeastern Italy)
• Brisote (the northeast trade wind when it is blowing more strongly than usual, in Cuba)
• Brookings Effect (off-shore wind on the southwestern Oregon coast, USA)
• Buran (a wind which blows across eastern Asia. It is also known as Purga when over the tundra)
• Burle (north wind which blows in the winter in south-central France)

C-E

• Caju (stormy gale-force north-westerly in the Atlantic coast of Brazil)
• Calima (dust-laden south to southeasterly wind blowing in the Saharan Air Layer across the Canary Islands)
• Carpinteiro (strong southeasterly wind along the southern Atlantic coast of Brazil)
• Cape Doctor (dry south-easterly wind that blows on the South African coast in summer)
• Cers (strong, very dry northeasterly wind in the bas-Languedoc region in southern France)
• Chetco Effect (alternate term for Brookings Effect, off-shore wind on the southwestern Oregon coast, USA)
• Chinook (warm dry westerly off the Rocky Mountains)
• Cierzo (cool north/northwesterly wind on Ebro Valley in Spain)
• Cordonazo, also referred to as el cordonazo de San Francisco or the Lash of St Francis (southerly hurricane winds along the west coast of Mexico)
• Coromuel (south to south-west wind in the La Paz area of the Baja California peninsula and the Gulf of California)
• Crivăț (strong, very cold north-easterly wind in Moldavia, Dobruja, and the Bărăgan Plain parts of Romania.)
• Diablo (hot, dry, offshore wind from the northeast in the San Francisco bay)
• Elephanta (strong southerly or southeasterly wind on the Malabar coast of India)
• Etesian (Greek name) or Meltem (Turkish name) (northerly across Greece and Turkey)
• Euroclydon (a cyclonic tempestuous northeast wind in the Mediterranean)

F-H

• Föhn or foehn (a warm, dry, southerly wind off the northern side of the Alps and North Italy. The name gave rise to the fén-fēng (焚風 'burning wind') of Taiwan)
• Fremantle Doctor (afternoon sea breeze from the Indian Ocean which cools Perth, Western Australia during summer)
• Garua, la garúa, or garoa (dry winds hitting the lower western slopes of the Andes)
• Ghibli (hot dry southeasterly wind of Libya)
• Gilavar (south wind in the Absheron Peninsula of the Azerbaijan Republic)
• Gregale (northeasterly from Greece)
• Habagat (southwesterly wind across the Philippines)
• Halny (in northern Carpathians)
• Harmattan (dry northerly wind across central Africa)
• Helm (north-easterly wind in Cumbria, England)

I-L

• Kalbaishakhi (local rain fall and thunder storm which occurs in India and Bangladesh)
• Kaimai Breeze (turbulent wind with strong downdrafts in the Kaimai Range)
• Kali Andhi or simply Andhi (the violent dust squalls that occur before monsoon in the northwestern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain region of the Indian Subcontinent)
• Karaburan ("power storm") (a spring and winter katabatic wind of central Asia)
• Karakaze (strong cold mountain wind from Gunma Prefecture in Japan)
• Khamsin (hot dry southeasterly wind of Egypt)
• Khazri (cold, coastal gale-force wind of north Caspian Sea)
• Kona (southeast wind in Hawaii, replacing trade winds, bringing high humidity and often rain)
• Košava (strong and cold southeasterly season wind in Serbia)
• Leste (hot, dry easterly wind of the Madeira and Canary Islands)
• Viento de Levante or Levanter (easterly through Strait of Gibraltar)
• Leveche (Spanish name for a warm southwest wind in parts of coastal Mediterranean Spain)
• Libeccio (southwesterly towards Italy)
• Llevantades (north-north-east and east-north-east on the east coast of Spain)
• Lodos (southwesterly towards Turkey. Strong "Lodos" events occur 6 - 7 times a year bringing 35 kt winds into Marmara Sea. The winds are funnelled SE from the Mediterranean and through the Dardanelles Strait.)
• Loo (hot wind which blows over plains of India and Pakistan.)

M-N

• Maestro (cold northerly in the Adriatic sea)
• Marin (south-easterly from Mediterranean to France)
• Meltemi μελτέμι (Greek), or meltem (Turkish) (etesian northerly across Greece, Turkey, and Aegean sea)
• Minuano (southern Brazil)
• Mistral (cold northerly from central France and the Alps to Mediterranean)
• Monsoon (mainly south-westerly winds combined with heavy rain in various areas close to the equator)
  • East Asian Monsoon, known in Korea as jangma (장마), and in Japan as tsuyu (梅雨) when advancing northwards in the spring and shurin (秋霖) when retreating southwards in autumn.
  • Monsoon of South Asia
• N'aschi (northeastern wind on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf, and on the Makran coast)
• Nigeq (a strong wind from the east in Greenland)
• Norte (strong cold northeasterly wind in Mexico)
• North wind (northern cold winds blowing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec)
• Nor'easter (strong storm with winds from the northeast on the north eastern coast of the United States (particularly New England states) and the east coast of Canada (Atlantic Canada))
• Nor'wester (wind that brings rain to the West Coast, and warm dry winds to the East Coast of New Zealand's South Island, caused by the moist prevailing winds being uplifted over the Southern Alps, often accompanied by a distinctive arched cloud pattern)

O-R

• Oroshi (颪) (strong katabatic wind across the Kanto Plain)
• Ostro (southerly wind in the Mediterranean)
• Pampero (Argentina), very strong wind which blows in the Pampa
• Papagayo (periodic wind which blows across Nicaragua and Costa Rica and out over the Gulf of Papagayo)
• Passat (medium strong, constant blowing wind at sea in tropical areas)
• Piteraq (cold katabatic wind on the Greenlandic east coast)
• Plough Wind (straight line wind which precedes thunderstorms or thunderstorm clusters)
• Pommie, or Shut Up (strong gusty wind from North West England that persists for an extended period of time)
• Poniente, ponente, or ponent (strong west to east wind formed by the wind tunnel effect of the Gibraltar Strait; see Levante for the opposite)
• Puelche (on the western slope of the Andes in south-central Chile)
• Rashabar (or Rashaba) ("black wind") (a strong wind in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, particularly in Sulaimaniya)
• Roaring Forties (strong westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere)

S

• Santa Ana winds (southern California)
• Santa Lucia winds (a downslope wind affecting southern San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties, California)
• Sarma (cold strong wind at the western shore of Lake Baikal)
• Shamal (a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states)
• Sharqi (seasonal dry, dusty Middle Eastern wind coming from the south and southeast)
• Simoom (strong, dry, desert wind that blows in Israel, Jordan, Syria, and the desert of Arabia)
• Sirocco (southerly from north Africa to southern Europe)
• Solano (south to south-easterly wind in the southern sector of Spain)
• Southerly Buster (rapidly arriving low pressure cell that dramatically cools Sydney, Australia during summer)
• Sou'wester (strong wind which blows from the southwest, and also a type of waterproof hat designed to protect from wind and rain)
• Squamish (strong, violent wind occurring in many of the fjords of British Columbia)
• Sudestada, (strong offshore wind from the Southeast associated with most of the shipwrecks in Uruguay's Rio de la Plata coast)
• Les Suêtes (western Cape Breton Highlands) high speed southeasterly winds
• Sukhovey (hot dry wind in the steppes, semi-deserts, and deserts of the Kazakhstan and the Caspian region)
• Sundowner, (strong offshore wind off the California coast)

T-Z

• Tehuantepecer, or Tehuano wind (periodic wind which blows across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico and out over the Gulf of Tehuantepec)
• Tramontane (cold northwesterly from the Pyrenees or northeasterly from the Alps to the Mediterranean, similar to Mistral)
• Vendavel (westerly through the Strait of Gibraltar)
• Warm Braw (foehn wind in the Schouten Islands, north of New Guinea)
• Washoe Zephyr (seasonal diurnal wind in parts of western Nevada)
• Williwaw (strong, violent wind occurring in the Strait of Magellan, the Aleutian Islands, and the coastal fjords of Southeast Alaska)
• Witch of November, or November Witch (strong winds blowing across the Great Lakes in autumn)
• Wreckhouse (strong downslope winds off the Long Range Mountains in south-western Newfoundland)
• Zonda wind (on the eastern slope of the Andes in Argentina)

References

• Continent Wise Classification and Distribution of Local Winds at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 September 2017)