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The position of the low-pressure front creates a flow of air from the northwest or the northeast, channeled through the Rhône Valley. If this low-pressure area moves back toward the southeast, the mistral will quickly clear the air and the good weather will return; but if the cold-weather front continues to approach the land, bad weather will continue for several days in the entire
Mediterranean basin, sometimes transforming into what French meteorologists call an
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330:. The conditions for a mistral are even more favorable when a cold rainy front has crossed France from the northwest to the southeast as far as the Mediterranean. This cold, dry wind usually causes a period of cloudless skies and luminous sunshine, which gives the mistral its reputation for making the sky especially clear. There is also, however, the mistral noir, which brings clouds and rain. The mistral noir occurs when the
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204:. It produces sustained winds averaging 31 miles an hour (50 kilometres an hour), sometimes reaching 60 miles an hour (100 kilometres an hour). It can last for several days. Periods of the wind exceeding 30 km/h (19 mph; 8.3 m/s; 16 kn) for more than sixty-five hours have been reported. It is most common in the winter and spring, and strongest in the transition between the two seasons.
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change from completely covered to completely clear. The mistral also blows away the dust, and makes the air particularly clear, so that during the mistral it is possible to see mountains 150 kilometres (93 miles) and farther away. This clarity of the air and light is one of the features that attracted many French impressionist and post-impressionist artists to the South of France.
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is overheated. This creates a flow of air from the north toward the east of
Provence. This wind is frequently cancelled out close to the coast by the breezes from the sea. It does not blow for more than a single day, but it is feared in Provence, because it dries the vegetation and it can spread forest fires.
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When the flow of air comes from the northeast due to a widespread low pressure area over the
Atlantic and atmospheric disturbances over France, the air is even colder at both high altitudes and ground level, and the mistral is even stronger, and the weather worse, with the creation of cumulus clouds
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The mistral originating from the northeast has a very different character; it is felt only in the west of
Provence and as far as Montpellier, with the wind coming from either a northerly or north-northeasterly direction. In the winter this is by far the coldest form of the mistral. The wind can blow
341:
of funnelling the air through a narrowing space, is frequently cited as the reason for the speed and force of the mistral, but the reasons are apparently more complex. The mistral reaches its maximum speed not at the narrowest part of the Rhône Valley, south of
Valence, but much farther south, where
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In the Rhône Valley and on the plain of la Crau, the regularity and force of the mistral causes the trees to grow leaning to the south. Once the forest has been razed by fire, the strong wind makes it difficult for new trees to grow. The farmers of the Rhône Valley have long planted rows of cypress
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The summer mistral, unlike the others, is created by purely local conditions. It usually happens in July, and only in the valley of the Rhône and on the coast of
Provence. It is caused by a thermal depression over the interior of Provence (The Var and Alpes de Haute-Provence), created when the land
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The mistral is not always synonymous with clear skies. When a low pressure front over the
Mediterranean approaches the coast from the southeast, the weather can change quickly for the worse, and the mistral and its clear sky changes rapidly to an east wind bringing humid air and threatening clouds.
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The sunshine and dryness brought by the mistral have an important effect on the local vegetation. The vegetation in
Provence, which is already dry because of the small amount of rainfall, is made even drier by the wind, which makes it particularly susceptible to fires, which the wind spreads very
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The mistral is usually accompanied by clear, fresh weather, and it plays an important role in creating the climate of
Provence. It can reach speeds of more than 90 km/h (56 mph; 25 m/s; 49 kn), particularly in the Rhône Valley. Its average speed during the day can reach about
461:
The mistral helps explain the unusually sunny climate (2700 to 2900 hours of sunshine a year) and clarity of the air of
Provence. When other parts of France have clouds and storms, Provence is rarely affected for long, since the mistral quickly clears the sky. In less than two hours, the sky can
408:
When the mistral blows from the west, the mass of air is not so cold and the wind only affects the plain of the Rhône delta and the Côte d'Azur. The good weather is confined to the coast of the Mediterranean, while it can rain in the interior. The Côte d'Azur generally has a clear sky and warmer
346:, 1900 meters (6300') in elevation, though the plain below is very wide. Other contributing factors to the strength of the mistral are the accumulation of masses of cold air, whose volume is greater, pouring down the mountains and valleys to the lower elevations. This is similar to a
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50 km/h (31 mph; 14 m/s; 27 kn), calming noticeably at night. The mistral usually blows in winter or spring, though it occurs in all seasons. It sometimes lasts only one or two days, frequently lasts several days, and sometimes lasts more than a week.
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for more than a week. This kind of mistral is often connected with a low pressure area in the Gulf of Genoa, and it can bring unstable weather to the Côte d'Azur and the east of Provence, sometimes bringing heavy snow to low altitudes in winter.
393:, the wind is channelled by the mountains so that it blows from east to west. Sometimes it also blows from the north-northeast toward the east of Languedoc as far as Cap Béar. Frequently, the mistral will affect only one part of the region.
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As summer visitors to the beach in Provence learn, the summer mistral can quickly lower the temperature of the sea, as the wind pushes the warm water near the surface out to sea and it is replaced by colder water from greater depths.
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In the Languedoc area, where the tramontane is the strongest wind, the mistral and the tramontane blow together onto the Gulf of Lion and the northwest of the western Mediterranean, and can be felt to the east of the
342:
the Valley has widened. Also, the wind occurs not just in the Valley, but high above in the atmosphere, up to the troposphere, 3 km (1.9 mi) above the earth. The mistral is very strong at the summit of
603:(farmhouse) traditionally faces south, with its back to the mistral. The bell towers of villages in Provence are often open iron frameworks, which allow the wind to pass through. The traditional Provençal
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trees to shelter their crops from the dry force of the mistral. The mistral can also have beneficial effects—the moving air can save crops from the spring frost, which can last until the end of April.
322:. When this happens, the flow of air between the high and low pressure areas draws in a current of cold air from the north which accelerates through the lower elevations between the foothills of the
302:
A map showing the force of the mistral one day in November 2008. The wind reached a speed of 80 km/h (50 mph), with average speeds of more than 50 km/h (31 mph) near Marseille.
594:, showed that in about 40,000 B.C. the inhabitants had built a low wall of rocks and beach stones to the northwest of their fireplace to protect their fire from the power of the mistral.
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wind, but unlike a foehn wind the descent in altitude does not significantly warm the mistral. The causes and characteristics of the mistral are very similar to those of the
219:, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a major influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between
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rapidly, sometimes devastating vast expanses of mountainside before being extinguished. During the summer, thousands of hectares can burn when the mistral is blowing.
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wind which blows in the summer when the east Adriatic coast gets warmer than the sea. It is thus a mild sea-to-coast wind, unlike the mistral. The strong
389:, and as far southeast as Corsica and Sardinia. The mistral usually blows from the north or northwest, but in certain pre-alpine valleys and along the
808:
Wunsch, Carl. (2015). Modern Observational Physical Oceanography: Understanding the Global Ocean. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 273.
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The mistral has the reputation of bringing good health, since the dry air dries stagnant water and the mud, giving the mistral the local name
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725:: "A strong, cold north-westerly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter."
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The mistral played an important part in the life and culture of Provence from the beginning. Excavations at the prehistoric site called
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Definition from the Website of Meteo France, the national weather service of the French government. (see external links.)
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World Wind Regimes – Mediterranean Mistral Tutorial,U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Marine Meteorologial Divisio
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The mistral regularly affects the weather in Sardinia and sometimes also affects the weather in North Africa,
469:(Eng. "mud-eater"). It also blows away pollution from the skies over the large cities and industrial areas.
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425:, a succession of torrential rains and floods, particularly in the areas west of the Rhône Valley: the
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566:. In southwestern Crete, it is considered the most beneficial wind, said to blow only in daytime.
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bringing weak storms. This kind of mistral is weaker in the east of Provence and the Côte d'Azur.
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A Fête du Vent (Festival of Wind) is held periodically on the Prado Beach in Marseille.
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temperatures. This type of mistral usually blows for no more than one to three days.
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This article is about the northwesterly wind. For Mistral Appliances (brand), see
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840:"Blow winds and crack your cheeks - photographing the Mistral by Rachel Cobb"
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516:. The winds create a physically cold, salty ocean body that sinks in the
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of a shepherd holding his hat, with his cloak blowing in the mistral.
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is extended and draws in unusually moist air from the northwest.
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US Navy Marine Meteorology - Mediterranean Mistral Tutorial
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Meteo France, "Les principaux vents regionoux- :Le Mistral"
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The long and enclosed shape of the Rhône Valley, and the
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and other parts of the Mediterranean, particularly when
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Schematic diagram of mistral wind occurrence in Europe.
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Internet site of Meteo France, article on the mistral.
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Cold northwesterly wind experienced in southern France
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365:is open, which allows the mistral to pass through.
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870:La Grande Histoire des premiers hommes europeéns
827:La Grande Histoire des premiers hommes europeens
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405:, and sometimes as far as the coast of Africa.
306:The mistral takes place each time there is an
242:and means "masterly". The same wind is called
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520:when certain weather conditions are present.
369:In France, the mistral particularly affects
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381:, as well as all of the Rhône Valley from
361:The bell tower of the hilltop village of
207:It affects the northeast of the plain of
829:, Odile Jacob publishers, 2007. Pg. 225.
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246:in the Provençal variant of Occitan,
524:Maestral or maestro in the Adriatic
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188:) is a strong, cold, northwesterly
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558:In Greece, it is also known as
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30:The winds of the Mediterranean
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885:Les vents régionaux et locaux
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124:Mistral wind blowing near
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1012:The eight principal winds
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901:Local Mediterranean winds
723:Oxford English Dictionary
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868:Lumley, Henry de (2007)
578:A traditional Provençal
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316:area of low pressure
607:usually includes a
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634:Bora (wind)
588:Terra Amata
540:. It is an
467:mange-fange
391:Côte d'Azur
379:Montpellier
332:Azores High
318:around the
308:anticyclone
1069:Categories
1019:Tramontane
961:directions
705:References
699:Tramontane
669:Levantades
545:sea-breeze
352:Tramontane
280:majjistral
186:majjistral
49:Tramontane
1003:Northwest
993:Southwest
983:Southeast
973:Northeast
659:Khamaseen
564:maïstráli
387:Marseille
375:Languedoc
314:, and an
276:Sardinian
268:maistràle
256:maestrale
236:Languedoc
230:The name
209:Languedoc
196:into the
178:maestrale
154:maestrale
126:Marseille
1080:Provence
1044:Libeccio
955:Cardinal
618:See also
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542:anabatic
530:maestral
495:Sardinia
403:Sardinia
377:east of
371:Provence
328:Cevennes
326:and the
264:Corsican
223:and the
213:Provence
170:μαΐστρος
162:maestral
158:Croatian
150:Corsican
91:Libeccio
1054:Mistral
1049:Ponente
1034:Sirocco
1024:Gregale
959:ordinal
799:in 2003
689:Sirocco
674:Leveche
654:Gregale
649:Etesian
534:maestro
449:Effects
435:Hérault
427:Ardèche
284:Maltese
260:Italian
252:Catalan
248:mestral
244:mistrau
240:Occitan
232:mistral
221:Corsica
182:Maltese
174:Italian
146:mestral
142:Catalan
138:mistral
109:Mistral
100:Ponente
75:Sirocco
66:Levante
57:Gregale
1029:Levant
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644:Cierzo
609:figure
580:santon
502:Sicily
439:Lozère
429:, the
278:, and
217:Toulon
1075:Winds
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988:South
968:North
710:Notes
506:Malta
401:, in
348:foehn
294:Cause
166:Greek
83:Ostro
998:West
978:East
957:and
874:ISBN
852:2018
810:ISBN
597:The
592:Nice
553:bora
504:and
437:and
431:Gard
383:Lyon
324:Alps
262:and
211:and
190:wind
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