Galerna
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A galerna (
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
: enbata) is a sudden and violent
storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...
with strong
wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...
gusts from the west or northwest that affects coastal areas of the
Cantabrian Sea The Cantabrian Sea is the term used mostly in Spain to describe the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that borders the northern coast of Spain and the southwest side of the Atlantic coast of France, included in the Bay of Biscay. It extends from ...
and the
Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...
, predominantly from spring to fall. It especially affects the central and eastern part of the Spanish north coast provinces (
Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
,
Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...
,
Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...
and
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
) and the southwestern region of France (
French Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided ...
,
Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...
,
Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...
,
Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...
,
Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...
,
Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
). The name comes from
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
''galerne'' and that originates from
Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...
(gwalarn), a wind from the northwest.


Description

They usually occur during warm and calm days when a cold front causes a sudden change in wind direction and intensity that can exceed 100 km/h. The sky darkens and there is a sudden decrease in temperature of up to 12 °C in 20 minutes, rapid increase in atmospheric pressure, and a rise in relative humidity. The resulting wave heights in the coastal ocean range from rough to very high on the Douglas Sea scale. Precipitation is not usually associated with galernas, although it can occur occasionally. It is included within the so-called coastally-trapped disturbances (CTD). Most of the galernas have a local origin inside the Bay of Biscay, and only a few ones are directly caused by oceanic fronts initiated out of the region. The local frontogenesis is more frequently initiated by the relatively cold marine southwesterly pre-frontals preceding a parent oceanic front and blowing against the warm continentals inside the Bay of Biscay. The stably stratified marine boundary layer behind this new galerna front may become trapped in the coastal strip against the Cantabrian Mountains and ducted along the coast under synoptic and/or locally driven pressure gradients. If this is the case, the front is enhanced by favorable west-east coastal pressure gradients developed after lee troughing caused by the intense Foehn at the coast, ahead of the galerna front. The observed lee trough has both a thermal (adiabatic warming) and dynamic origin (horizontal convergence associated with the increase of relative vorticity and vertical stretching of air columns passing over the ridge and descending the lee slope). The local front enhancement appears to be the reason for the apparent jump of the primary front, which may eventually weaken, and even disappear, as the galerna front sharpens, as observed on 03 July 2015 with the hourly winds of the ERA5 reanalysis of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). In this case, as in many others, this front is not accompanied by appreciable cloudiness, with sufficient thickness and/or breadth, and consequently it remains hidden in the images of meteorological satellites.The area receives an average of four to five relatively intense galernas (Vmax > 50 km/h) per year: their number shows a great interannual variability and a marked seasonality with a maximum in May and June and a winter minimum. They occur more frequently between noon and the late afternoon, where the most intense wind records concentrate. Because galernas cause a sudden and abrupt change in weather and sea conditions, they are some of the meteorological events most feared by mariners and fishermen in the Bay of Biscay, especially historically. Currently, weather forecast models are able to predict the precursor conditions to galernas, reducing their potential risks, but predicting the exact timing of their occurrence remains a challenge.


Galernas throughout history

Galernas have caused many fatalities throughout history. One of the most damaging events occurred on April 20, 1878 and it was known as the "Galerna of Easter Saturday".Carmen Gozalo de Andrés (2002). "Galernas de Ayer y de Hoy" n Spanis

/ref> It is featured in the novel '' Sotileza'' by
José María de Pereda José María de Pereda y Sánchez de Porrúa (born 6 February 1833, Polanco, Cantabria – died 1 March 1906, Polanco) was a Spanish novelist, and a Member of the Royal Spanish Academy. Life Pereda was educated at the Institute Cántabro of Sa ...
. During that day, fishermen tried to reach the coast in their launch boats to no avail, while their families watched from shore. 322 fishermen died along the Cantabrian coast (132 from Cantabria and 190 from the Basque Country), causing a great commotion. The response to this disaster caused the introduction of several maritime safety improvements (e.g., flush deck, weather reports, search and rescue operations). Even with these improvements, many galernas continued causing fatalities.


See also

*
List of local winds This is a list of names given to winds local to specific regions. Africa * Berg wind, a seasonal katabatic wind blowing down the Great Escarpment from the high central plateau to the coast in South Africa. * Cape Doctor, often persistent and dry ...


References

{{reflist Storms