Most winds, of course, don’t have names. You just say, “it’s windy,’ or “The wind is blowing.” Sometimes we might say, “The north wind is blowing.” But many of the winds do have special names.

Those winds which have special names have acquired them for different reasons. For example, you know how it feels when you have the doldrums. You feel listless and without energy. Well, certain winds are actually called the doldrums! They are found near the equator where there is a great belt of rising air and low pressure. When you are caught in the doldrums in a ship, you are becalmed.

Winds that blow from above and below toward the equator are called the trade winds. Strong and steady, they got their names because in the days of sailing vessels they were a great help to navigation.

There are also some special winds. Monsoon winds, for example, are winds that change their direction with the season. In India, the monsoons blow south as hot, dry winds in the wintertime, and blow north in the summer, bringing heavy rainfall.

In southern France a cold, dry, northerly wind, the mistral, is dreaded by everyone. It blows steadily from the sea for days at a time and makes everybody irritable and uncomfortable!