Sirocco, << suh ROK oh, >> is the Italian name for a warm wind that blows northward from the hot, dry Sahara or Arabian Desert. It occurs frequently during the spring in European countries on the north side of the Mediterranean Sea. A sirocco may pick up moisture as it crosses the Mediterranean and arrive at European shores as a warm, damp wind. As it moves north, it produces fog and rain. Some siroccos carry desert dust. When a dry sirocco blows, fine sand darkens the sky. The wind burns the skin and parches the throat. The term sirocco is sometimes applied to any unseasonably warm south winds in the Mediterranean region.
