Climate of Mediterranean Sea

The Dry Summer Subtropical climate, is also known as the “Mediterranean” climate because the land that borders the Mediterranean Sea is a type locality for this climate. The wet winter/dry summer seasonality of precipitation is the defining characteristic of this climate. Summer drought places a great deal of stress on the local vegetation, but plant structures have evolved to adapt to it.

Air flow into the Mediterranean Sea is through gaps in the mountain ranges, except over the southern shores east of Tunisia. Strong winds funneled through the gaps lead to the high evaporation rates of summer and the seasonal water deficit of the sea. The mistral, a cold, dry, northwesterly wind, passes through the Alps-Pyrenees gap and the lower Rhone valley; the strong northeasterly bora passes through the Trieste gap; and the cold easterly levanter and the westerly vendaval pass through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Hot, dry, southeasterly winds–known locally as the sirocco, ghibli (gibleh), or khamsin–frequently blow into the Mediterranean basin from the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula as low-pressure centres traverse the sea in late winter and early spring.