medicane
noun/ˈmɛdɪkeɪn/
Etymology Blend of Mediterranean + hurricane.
1
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences Informal A hurricane-like storm that forms in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Mediterranean tropical-like storms (the “medicane” term has been proposed for these storms) evolve under significantly different environmental conditions compared with the tropical ones.[2007 January 15, L. Fita, “Analysis of the environments of seven Mediterranean tropical-like storms using an axisymmetric, nonhydrostatic, cloud resolving model”, in Natural Hazards and Earth System Science, volume 7, page 41:
- The methodology is presently transferred to the analysis and projection of North Pacific polar low statistics and that of medicanes, vigorous below synopticscale cyclones in the Mediterranean (The word medicane is a hybrid of Mediterranean and hurricane).2013, A. Surjalal Sharma, Extreme Events and Natural Hazards: The Complexity Perspective:
3 more examples
- Thus, it is essential to study medicanes and calibrate the numerical weather prediction models in order to simulate them adequately.2016, Theodore Karacostas, Perspectives on Atmospheric Sciences, page 115:
- After pounding parts of western and central Greece meteorologists have predicted a rare Mediterranean hurricane-like storm, or medicane, is headed south towards the island of Crete.2020 September 19, Helena Smith, “Medicane Ianos turns towards Crete after sweeping across Greece”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- The flash flood that has killed thousands of people in Libya this week followed a “medicane”, a rare but destructive weather phenomenon that scientists believe will intensify in a warming world.2023 September 15, “What are medicanes? The ‘supercharged’ Mediterranean storms that could become more frequent”, in The Guardian, sourced from Agence France-Presse, →ISSN: