Winds and Climate

Climate
The Adriatic coast region has a Mediterranean climate whose main characteristics are dry and warm summers and humid and mild winters.
The warmest month is July and the coldest is January. The average hours of sunshine per year is 2600 especially in the central Adriatic islands.
Summer temperatures in July are 34°C in the northern Adriatic and can reach 38°C in the southern Adriatic.
The coldest recorded temperature during winter in the northern Adriatic was -16°C while in the southern Adriatic this has not been lower than -6°C.
Global warming during the last five years has increased these average temperatures.

Winds
The most common winds in the Adriatic are the Bura (NNE to ENE) and the Jugo (ESE to SSE) which are prevalent in autumn and winter months, and the Maestral (WNW to NW) which is prevalent in summer. Other than these, there are also winds which blow from the following directions: S (Oštro), SW (Lebić, Garbin), W (Pulenat), N to NW (Tramontana), E (Levanat), and coastal breezes (Burin and Zmorac).

Bura (Bora)
The best-known wind in the Adriatic coastal region which blows from the mainland to sea. It is an exceptionally strong, dry and cold wind which lasts for 2-3 days. The Bura arises with the flow of cold air from the Pannonian plain over the Dinaric Alps and onto the coast. The Bura’s strength and speed are particularly noticeable at Rijeka, Senj, Maslenica, Split, Vrulja and Makarska. The strongest Bura arises at passages through mountain passes through which the cold air is channelled, and its frequency diminishes from the northern to the southern Adriatic.

Jugo (Scirocco)
The Jugo usually blows from the south-east. It arises as a result of the southerly airflow which occurs due to a Genoa cyclone or Adriatic cyclone and also sometimes from the air mass from northern Africa crossing the Mediterranean and gathering moisture so that it arrives in the Adriatic as a warm and humid wind which can also bring with it dirty (muddy) rain. It usually blows over the whole Adriatic and creates high waves at sea. It is also a common phenomenon that the Jugo blows in the central and southern Adriatic while the Bora is blowing in the northern Adriatic. Similar to the Bura, the Jugo lasts on average 2-3 days. The Jugo’s windspeed ranges from 10m/s to 30m/s and never rises suddenly but gathers its strength after 24 to 36 hours of blowing, and as a rule reaches storm strength on the third day from when it started to blow.

Maestral (Mistral)
A wind which appears in the summer months and arises because of differences in pressure over the Mediterranean. It only blows along the coast and rarely reaches more than 20m inland and is very much a surface wind (up to 300m in height). It starts to blow at about 10am and at around 2pm the Maestral reaches its maximum and always dies down before sunset (generally by 6pm).The Maestral is followed by pleasant weather and also significantly lessens the summer sultriness on the islands and along the coast.

Tramontana
A local, dry, short-lived and cool wind; not as strong or fierce as the Bura. It is followed by clear weather and high barometric pressure. Further away from the coast it is stronger, longer and creates fully-developed waves. It is more frequent in the southern Adriatic.

Zmorac and Burin
These arise as a result of the unequal warming of land and sea; the Zmorac blows during the day and the Burin at night.