Sirocco

Sirocco (/sɪˈrɒkoʊ/ sih-RO-koh) or scirocco is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season.

Various names for this wind in other languages include: The Roman poet Horace refers to the sirocco at Trevico in Apulia as "Atabulus" (a Messapic word) in his account of his journey to Brundisium in 37 BC.

[1] Siroccos arise from warm, dry, tropical air masses that are pulled northward by low-pressure cells moving eastward across the Mediterranean Sea, with the wind originating in the Arabian or Sahara deserts.

The sirocco causes dusty dry conditions along the northern coast of Africa, storms in the Mediterranean Sea, and warm wet weather in Southern Europe.

[3] In addition, many people attribute health problems to the wind, either because of the heat and dust brought from African coastal regions, or because of the cool dampness further north in Europe.