The levant (Catalan: Llevant, Italian: Levante, Maltese: Lvant, Greek: Λεβάντες, Spanish: Levante) is an easterly wind that blows in the western Mediterranean Sea and southern France, an example of mountain-gap wind. In Roussillon it is called "llevant" and in Corsica "levante". In the western Mediterranean, particularly when the wind blows through the Strait of Gibraltar, it is called the Viento de Levante or the Levanter. It is also known as the Solano. When blowing moderately or strongly, the levant causes heavy swells on the Mediterranean. Usually gentle and damp, the levant frequently brings clouds and rain. When it brings good weather, it is known as the "levant blanc", or "levante calma" in Gibraltar. The origin of the name is the same as that of the name Levant for the region of the eastern Mediterranean: it is the Latin word "levante", the participle of levare "to raise" – as in sol levante "rising sun". It thus referred to the eastern direction of the rising sun.
Etymology The name of the wind pattern entered English from Middle French levante (French: rising), the sun rises in the east, the perceived origin point of the wind and rain. It is used to describe the direction east, the wind coming from the east, as well as a general term for the lands bordering the eastern Mediterranean.
Description The wind rises in the central Mediterranean or around the Balearic Islands and blows westwards reaching its greatest intensity through the Strait of Gibraltar. The winds are moist carrying fog and precipitation in the eastern side of the Strait, but dry in the western side, as the moisture rains on the mountains between Algeciras and Tarifa. The winds are well known for creating a particular cloud formation above the Rock of Gibraltar; In Almería, the winds are well known for making the temperatures rise as the wind blows across the desert interior of the province. The Levanter winds can occur at any time in the year, but are most common from May to October.
The Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar, located at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, is frequently associated with strong gap winds that can produce dangerous seas, especially when they blow against tide, current or swell through the Strait, which is a narrow sea-level passage about 15 km (9.3 mi) wide and 55 km (34 mi) long that is surrounded by terrain reaching several thousand feet. The most pronounced gap wind through the Strait, the Levanter, can produce winds of 20 to 40 kn (40 to 70 km/h) in and to the west of the gap when there is higher pressure to the east, over the Mediterranean, with lower pressure to the west of Gibraltar. The sinking motions accompanying such anticyclonic conditions cause stability in the low-level air flow, strongly suppressing vertical air motion and may result in the formation of an inversion within a few thousand feet of the surface. Such an inversion provides a cap that contains the low-level air and results in greater topographic blocking and the acceleration of the airflow through the gap forming the Strait. Under such circumstances, the winds can go from a moderate or fresh easterly over the Alboran Sea (the western part of the Mediterranean) to gale force strength on the western side of the Strait and to its west. Because the flow is accelerating and there is often a significant pressure gradient through the Strait, the strongest winds are not observed mid-Strait, as might be expected if the funnel mechanism was dominant; rather, the strongest winds are in the western Strait and immediately downwind to the west. Levanters are most frequent during the warm season from April until October and often reach a peak in spring, when the Mediterranean is comparatively cool, increasing the stability of the low-level air flow.
The Gibraltar levanter cloud
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