Bora
A cold, katabatic NE wind that crashes off the Dinaric Alps onto the eastern Adriatic — sudden, dry, and one of the most violent winds in the Mediterranean.
Also known as: bura
The Bora is the most famous katabatic wind in the Mediterranean. Cold continental air pools over the Dinaric Alps, finds a saddle or a gap, and crashes down to the coast at 30–60 kt — gusting well over 80 on the strongest days. It can arrive in minutes, blow for three days, and leave the same way.
Where it rules:
- Senj and the Kvarner gulf, Croatia — the textbook Bora corridor
- Trieste, Italy — northern end, famous for harbour rope warnings
- Velebit channel — extreme funnelling
- Vinodol, Pag, Rab — most reliable kiteboarding spots in a Bora regime
What makes it brutal for riders:
- Offshore — cold continental air blowing seaward
- Very gusty — gust factors of 1.4–1.7 are normal, much higher near terrain
- Cold — winter Bora arrives 10–20 °C below sea temperature
- Underforecast by global models that smooth the Dinaric ridge — regional models like ICON and AROME resolve it far better
Two cousins to watch: the Tramontana on the western Adriatic and the Vardarac in northern Greece work the same way. Wider context in Types of Wind.
See it at these spots
Open the live wind, wave, and tide forecast for each spot in Wavind.
Browse more spots: Croatia spots
Related terms
- Katabatic wind A gravity-driven wind formed when cold, dense air drains downhill off a high plateau or glacier — often offshore, often ferocious.
- Föhn wind A warm, dry, often gusty downslope wind on the lee side of a mountain range — Föhn in the Alps, Chinook in the Rockies, Halny in the Tatras.
- Gradient wind The large-scale wind driven by pressure differences between weather systems — the synoptic background flow that everything else rides on top of.