Meltemi, the summer wind of the Aegean

Meltèmi is the name used by the Greeks to indicate the cooling, monsoonal and generally moderate wind that blows over the Aegean Sea starting from late May until early October. It is a mainly northern or west-northern wind bringing relatively cool air and cloudless skies. The same name is also used by the Turkish living in the same geographic area.

In the continental part of Greece, Meltèmi is also called etesìai, meaning annual or yearly. The etesìai, are seasonal winds generated in part by the circulation and encounter between the masses of warmer air coming from Asia and cooler ones coming from the Mediterranean and in part by the formation and stratification of the Balkan anti-cyclone.