Picking up on our words for winds theme from yesterday: some winds don’t just have a meteorological label, but their own proper name. Here are some examples:
Brickfielder—a Sydney wind that was hot, dry and dusty. It was southerly wind that blew over the city from the direction of ‘Brickfield Hill.’ Never heard of it? Well, that name seems to have died these days, but in the early days of the colony there was a quarry there, where clay was minded and turned into bricks in a huge oven at the southern end of George Street, more or less where Sydney’s World Trade Centre now stands. When I was a boy the Anthony Horderns department store was there, and they still used ‘Brickfield Hill’ as their street address. And since that’s the direction the wind blew from, it got that name.
Southerly buster—an abrupt southerly wind change in New South Wales and Victoria. Typically occurring on hot days bringing a cool change at the end of a blistering few days.
Fremantle doctor—a cool breeze on a hot day blowing into Perth from the direction of Fremantle. For those of us in the eastern states we used to hear about this on broadcasts of test cricket, when the commentators would welcome the relief brought by the ‘Fremantle doctor’ (called ‘doctor’ because ‘it did you good’).
November witch—is an Arctic air mass that sweeps across the Great Lakes in North America during November (the ‘month of storms’). Clearly not a popular wind, known for screeching furiously.
Haboob—a strong desert wind that creates large sandstorms across the Sahara.
Simoon—is another Saharan wind: a brief wind often only lasting twenty minutes or so, but which is scorching hot and filled with dust.
Sirocco—this starts in the Sahara but doesn’t stop there. Instead it blows across the Mediterranean (picking up moisture and become more humid as it does so) until it reaches Southern Europe where its combination of heat and humidity is generally unwelcome.
The Hawk—Chicago is known as the windy city, and this is one of its winds. Chicagoans call the cold wind that blows off Lake Michigan ‘The Hawk’ or ‘Hawkins.’ No one knows why.
And I think we have now named quite enough winds for the time being. Although (I should add) if you know of a colourful wind with its own name that I have missed, please get in touch and let me know.
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