Winds

The Mediterranean climate of Cyprus is characterized by cool, rainy winters (November through February) and hot, dry summers (June through August). The two transitional seasons, spring (March through May) and autumn (September through October), have few distinctive weather characteristics of their own. On all coasts of Cyprus, a W wind is prevalent in summer and frequent in winter. On the S coast, E winds are as equally frequent as W winds in December and January, and S winds total 30 per cent annually. On the N coast, E winds and W winds comprise over 50 per cent of the annual observations. On the E coast in summer, 25 per cent of the winds are from the E and 17 per cent are from the SW. Calms are infrequent but are relatively more frequent on the E coast, December through March. Most gales occur in winter. Gales are most frequent on the E coast. About 80 per cent of all wind speeds are 10 knots or less. There is very little fog; in late spring and summer it sometimes occurs over the land in the first hour or two after sunrise. Sea fog begins to appear in April and attains a maximum in June. Dense coastal fog lasting for about 2 hours near dawn occurs at Larnarca 2 or 3 days a month in June and July. Farther W along the coast, reduced visibility occurs more frequently but is less intense. The N coast appears to be free from serious restricted visibility.

Currents

The general current circulation around Cyprus is part of the counterclockwise circulation of the E basin of the Mediterranean. The speed seldom exceeds 1 knot, and then only during strong W winds. During summer, the current off the N coast of Cyprus sometimes sets E with a velocity of 0.5 to 1 knot, increasing to 2 knots with strong W winds. During the same season, the currents off the W and S coasts of Cyprus may set E at 0.5 to 0.8 knot.