Thursday, 8 September 2016

TRAMONTATE, STELLE! ALL'ALBA VINCERÒ!

Tramontane is a classical name for a northern wind. The exact form of the name and precise direction varies from country to country. The word came to English from Italian tramontana, which developed from Latin trānsmontānus (trāns- + montānus), "beyond/across the mountains", referring to the Alps in the North of Italy. 

The word has other non-wind-related senses: it can refer to anything that comes from, or anyone who lives on, the other side of mountains, or even more generally, anything seen as foreign, strange, or even barbarous.

THE DANGEROUS PLACES: GULF OF LION AND ALT EMPORDÀ

In the zones of Gulf of Lion and Alt Empordà, the tramontane (named Tramuntana in Catalan) is a strong, dry cold wind from the north (on the Mediterranean) or from the northwest (in lower Languedoc, Roussillon, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands). It is similar to the mistral in its causes and effects, but it follows a different corridor; the tramontane accelerates as it passes between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, while the mistral flows down the Rhone Valley between the Alps and the Massif Central in France.

The tramontane is created by the difference of pressure between the cold air of a high pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean or northwest Europe and a low pressure system over the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean. The high-pressure air flows south, gathering speed as moves downhill and is funnelled between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central. 

According to French sources, the name was used in its present form at the end of the 13th century by Marco Polo, in 1298. It was borrowed from the Latin "transmontanus" and the Italian "tramontana", meaning not just "across the mountains" but also "the North Star" (literally the star "above the mountains"), since the Alps marked the north for the Italic people. The French term tresmontaine, cited as early as 1209 and still used in the 15th century, was borrowed directly from the Latin.

More information: NASA Weather


 Le vent qui vient à travers la montagne me rendra fou.
The wind coming over the mountain will drive me mad.

Victor Hugo, Gastibelza

No comments:

Post a Comment