Mistral (wind)
The same wind is called mistrau in the Provençal variant of Occitan, mestral in Catalan, maestrale in Italian and Corsican, maistràle or bentu maestru in Sardinian, and majjistral in Maltese.
The mistral noir occurs when the Azores High is extended and draws in unusually moist air from the northwest.
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.
[6] In France, the mistral particularly affects Provence, Languedoc east of Montpellier, as well as all of the Rhône Valley from Lyon to Marseille, and as far southeast as Corsica and Sardinia.
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 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.
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 bringing weak storms.
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 épisode cévenol, a succession of torrential rains and floods, particularly in the areas west of the Rhône Valley: the Ardèche, the Gard, Hérault and Lozère.
It is caused by a thermal depression over the interior of Provence (The Var and Alpes de Haute-Provence), created when the land is overheated.
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 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.
The farmers of the Rhône Valley have long planted rows of cypress trees to shelter their crops from the dry force of the mistral.
The winds create a physically cold, salty ocean body that sinks in the Gulf of Lion when certain weather conditions are present.
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.
The traditional Provençal Nativity scene usually includes a figure of a shepherd holding his hat, with his cloak blowing in the mistral.
