Levant (wind)

The levant (Catalan: Llevant, Italian: Levante, Croatian: Levant, 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".

The origin of the name is the same as the origin of the Levant, the region of the eastern Mediterranean: it is the Middle French word "levant", the participle of lever "to raise" — as in soleil levant "rising sun" — from the Latin levare. It thus referred to the Eastern direction of the rising sun.

The name of the wind pattern comes from the levante (Spanish: east), the perceived origin point of the rain, and it is used to describe both east and the wind coming from the east. The opposite of the levante is the poniente (Spanish: west). Levante originates from the verb levantar (Spanish: to rise) and refers to the fact that the sun rises from the east. In the same way, poniente comes from the verb poner (or ponerse in its intransitive form) (Spanish: to put down : lay down : lie down) and refers to the fact that the sun sets in the west. Both of these terms, levante and poniente, are commonly used in Spanish sea terminology to indicate directions, east and west, while at sea.

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