Lodos (Wind)

The Lodos (a name generated locally in the region where it occurs) has been classified as a fierce south westerly wind (blowing from the south west) which may prevail at regular intervals in the Marmara Sea and Aegean Sea as well as the Black Sea and the Mediterranean shoreline of Turkey all through the year.

What is a Lodos Wind?

Some of the attributes of the Lodos is that it often creates high waves at sea and may also lead to westerly squalls which are often quite violent in nature. Because it blows land wards it often appears as a sand storm.

An example of this was the incident that happened in Turkey early February 2015. The Lodos winds wrecked havoc in some communities causing serious damages, building collapsing, giant waves, several flights were grounded, the Bosphorus Strait (the strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia) was closed to all naval traffic and leading to some fatalities.

This The natural-color MODIS image shows the dust as it moved from North Africa, swept northeast over the Mediterranean Sea, and blanketed the atmosphere over Turkey and Greece. Source: NASA

When are Lodos Winds Strongest?

Ordinarily Lodos winds are strongest in the afternoon and almost often vanish at night leading to the theory by some scholars that its strength has something to do with sun rays or heat. This has however been debunked because there been many occurrences of Lodos winds that last for days with no break in strength or direction.

How Often Do Lodos Winds Occur?

It is however not an unusual wind type since it occurs around twenty times or more yearly, it is nevertheless its sudden nature that makes it rather unique and often a danger to sailors who are often not equipped to deal with a calm, clear weather suddenly changing to treacherous one.

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The Lodos winds are not entirely bad news because its occurrence drives warm waters from the south and these warm currents brings along with it African dust from the Sahara Desert, this dust is very rich in many minerals such as sulfate, iron, zinc and other minerals that are beneficial to plants which form the basis of the local people’s livelihood.

However, if Lodos continue for more than a day, these same mineral-rich dusts can cause different types of illnesses due to the fact that these minerals are not human body-friendly at all. These illnesses which can occur include headaches, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases.