The Notorious Croatian Wind - Bura

Bura.
The legendary Croatian coastal wind that creates all sorts of problems, but is also admired for it's strenght and beauty.
It occurs when the cold air from the north starts going south, climbs the highlands and mountains, and then tumbles down on the coast gaining great speed. The wind is turbulent and it hits in gusts. I was quite lucky to catch an image like this because it really shows the nature of the wind.

Due to Bura, the island in the back of this picture (Pag) is bombarded with salt, causing very poor vegetation on the north part of the island. Some parts which are exposed the most, have no vegetation at all.

If you play a bit with the toning, you can see why the island got the nickname Mars.

The gusts that Bura creates can be very powerful and can gain really big speed – the record on the croatian coast is 304km/h. This firefighter had an Aladin alike experience with Bura. Just to mention in advance, he was not injured.

Credit: Sandro Licul - Youtube

Often the ferry traffic is closed, but also the coastal roads can be partially or completely closed, depending on the situation. Last year there was a genious who decided to ignore the safety announcement that the road is closed for motorcycles. Brilliant idea mate... Lucky for him, he was also not injured. This is what he wrote later:

“I have been fighting mother nature for three days, rain, wind, and snow in Croatia. Today before starting, a 60 year-old man told me the wind in this area is like nowhere else in the world. I was too proud to listen and was saying to myself “he has no clue what I have been through, I rode Patagonia, Australia, Gobi desert and so many places known for strong winds, what does he know,”
“Well I was wrong, he knows his country, and this is the worst I have seen. I had to turn around and run away from the coast heading inland.’’

Another lucky guy was a polish truck driver. He also made a brilliant decision to ignore the safety announcement and continued to drive... I am sure he had some fun in there...

Credit: Danijel Draca - Facebook.

However, I would like to end in a positive tone and show the beauty Bura can create in all it's strenght. Pure magic.

Credit: Tea Cimas - Cropix

Hope you liked it.
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Cheers,
Nino.