Cierzo wind blowing in Zaragoza.

The cierzo is a strong, dry and usually cold wind that blows from the north or northwest through the regions of Aragon, La Rioja and Navarra in the Ebro Valley in Spain. It occurs when there is an anticyclone in the Bay of Biscay and a low-pressure area in the Mediterranean Sea. It is more common in autumn and winter, when larger pressure gradients occur, but a small pressure difference along the Ebro Valley is sufficient to initiate it in any season.[1]

The cierzo has been known since ancient times, with its name stemming from the Latin word circius, which probably came from an Iberian word. In the 2nd century BC, Cato the Elder described the cierzo as "a wind that fills your mouth and tumbles waggons and armed men."[1]

The cierzo can reach intense speeds. On February 17, 1954, a gust with direction 290° of 135 km/h was recorded at the Zaragoza Airport observatory.[2] Winds exceeding 100 km/h are recorded several times each year. The maximum recorded speed is 160 km/h in July 1956.[3]

The cierzo is similar to the mistral of the Rhone valley in France or the bora in the Balkans.[4] It conditions life in the Ebro Valley because it is a drying wind and plants must withstand the dryness that the cierzo produces in the climate. Farmers protect their orchard crops with reed barriers or tree plantations, which are called pareteras de caña, enramadas, abrigaños or bardos.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b R. Riosalido, L. Vazquez, A. Gordo and A. Jansa, «'CIERZO': NORTHWESTERLY WIND ALONG THE EBRO VALLEY AS A MESO-SCALE EFFECT INDUCED ON THE LEE OF THE PYRENEES MOUNTAIN RANGE; A CASE STUDY DURING ALPEX SPECIAL OBSERVING PERIOD.», Scientific results of the Alpine experiment (ALPEX)-VOLUME II, GARP publication series No. 27, WMO/TD No. 108
  2. ^ Meteorología, Agencia Estatal de. "Zaragoza, Aeropuerto: Zaragoza, Aeropuerto - Valores extremos absolutos - Selector - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología - AEMET. Gobierno de España". www.aemet.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  3. ^ CUADRAT PRATS, José María, «El clima de Aragón» Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, en J. L. Peña, L. A. Longares y M. Sánchez (eds.), Geografía Física de Aragón. Aspectos generales y temáticos, Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza e Institución «Fernando el Católico», págs. 15-26. 2004.
  4. ^ PERALES DÍAZ, José Antonio, «Símbolos y representaciones del viento en Navarra», in Cuadernos del Marqués de San Adrián: revista de humanidades, nº. extra 5, 2007, pg. 159-182. «Cierzo, el rey de los vientos», pg. 9-11. ISSN 1579-4806
  5. ^ ASALE, RAE-; RAE. "bardo | Diccionario de la lengua española". «Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-09.


Stub icon

This Spain-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

Stub icon

This wind–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

📚 Artikel Terkait di Wikipedia

Aragon

Ebro Valley from northwest to southeast, giving a characteristic wind, the cierzo, which stands out for its intensity and frequency. Temperatures are very

Zaragoza

are hot, and in winter a cold and dry wind blows from the northwest, the Cierzo. Night frost is common and there is sporadic snowfall. Fog can be persistent

Mistral (wind)

of Provence Classical compass winds Bora (wind) Cers (wind) Chinook wind Cierzo Etesian Gregale Khamaseen Levant (wind) Levantades Leveche Marin (wind)

Logroño

rainiest. The winds that affect the city are as follows: the northerly Cierzo, the southerly Ábrego, the easterly Solano, and the westerly Castellano

La Rioja

between 300 and 500 mm (12 and 20 in) as an annual average. The wind called Cierzo is very frequent around La Rioja during the winter. The mountains in La

Outward

The game starts with the player character, an inhabitant of the city of Cierzo, getting shipwrecked off the coast of their home city. They had previously

Navarre

had what was then Spain's largest photovoltaic power plant at Montes de Cierzo de Tudela (1.2 MWp capacity) plus several hundred smaller photovoltaic installations

Lizard (camouflage)

lizard camouflage. ZIPRA: Used Portuguese lizard camouflage. "Tiger Stripe Cierzo Suit Launches This Weekend | Soldier Systems Daily". 25 June 2021. "Lizard"