Croatia is one of those countries that many people seem to think is just the coast, and that that coastline is constantly calm, boiling hot, and boasts an always gentle Adriatic sea. People can be forgiven for that thought, and the same is true for many Mediterranean countries that rely heavily on tourism. Think Spain, Turkey and Greece – countries where everyone seems to make the mistake of thinking they’re the lands of constant sunshine.
Croatia, for all of the gorgeous weather and seemingly endless hours of sunshine it does boast, is much more than just the coast, and there is much more to the climate of this little country than the beating rays of a harsh, dry sun and the soft lapping of a warm Adriatic.
Bura and jugo are two words that even the most clueless of foreigners will be quick to learn if they spend any time at all along the Dalmatian coast outside of summer. These winds are powerful, indiscriminate and often cause all sorts of material damage. These winds prevent even the most experienced of salty sea dogs and professional sailors from even daring to venture out to sea, and they turn the sparkling blue, usually flat Adriatic into what could be a sight from the middle of a grey, stormy Atlantic ocean within a very short period of time.
Interested to learn more about the winds that batter the Croatian coast? Click here for all you need to know about jugo, a beastly and unforgiving southeastern wind.
The winds affect the sea, and the waves that the Adriatic can produce are quite unexpected indeed. As Morski writes on the 13th of November, 2019, the record for the highest wave on the Croatian Adriatic has now been broken.
The Croatian Hydrographic Institute measured the new, record breaking wave on November the 12th, 2019 at 16:00.
This wave was recorded in the sea near Dubrovnik near the islet of Sv. Andrija. The maximum height of that wave was Hmax = 10.87 metres.
Although lighthouse keepers recorded the passage of a large wave over the top of an eleven-metre-long crane in the late 1980s, this is the first official confirmation that the highest waves on the Adriatic are recorded on this Elaphite island, which lies seven nautical miles west of Dubrovnik.
Officially, the highest Adriatic wave of 10.8 metres in height was measured in February back in 1986. That wave also occurred during an ”attack” by stormy jugo winds.
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