NDA (II) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 80 of 141

Correct — A, Harmattan. The Harmattan is a dry, dusty north-easterly trade wind that blows off the Sahara across West Africa (the Guinea coast) — it has nothing to do with the Mediterranean Sea. The other three are all Mediterranean-region winds: the Khamsin (a hot, dusty wind of Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean), the Sirocco (a hot Saharan wind that crosses the Mediterranean into southern Europe) and the Mistral (a cold north-westerly funnelled down the Rhone valley to the Mediterranean coast of France).

• (b)Khamsin — The Khamsin is a hot, dry, dust-laden wind of Egypt that blows toward the eastern Mediterranean in spring — it IS a Mediterranean-region wind, so not the answer.
• (c)Sirocco — The Sirocco is a hot Saharan wind that sweeps north ACROSS the Mediterranean into Italy and southern Europe — strongly linked to the Mediterranean.
• (d)Mistral — The Mistral is a cold, dry north-westerly that blows down the Rhone valley to the Mediterranean coast of France — a classic Mediterranean local wind.

Local winds are regional winds with distinctive names and characters. Several cluster around the Mediterranean: the Sirocco (hot, southerly, Sahara to southern Europe), the Mistral (cold, north-westerly, southern France), the Khamsin (hot, Egypt) and others such as the Bora and Levanter. The Harmattan, by contrast, is a West African wind — dry and dust-laden as it blows from the Sahara toward the Guinea coast, where it is nicknamed 'the doctor' for its cooling dryness.

Three of the four options are Mediterranean winds (Sirocco, Mistral, Khamsin); the odd one is the Harmattan, which blows the other way — off the Sahara into West Africa. Grouping local winds by their home region makes the odd-one-out obvious.

• Harmattan — dry, dusty north-easterly wind, Sahara to West Africa (Guinea coast); November-March; NOT a Mediterranean wind.
• Sirocco — hot, dust-laden wind, Sahara across the Mediterranean into southern Europe.
• Mistral — cold, dry north-westerly down the Rhone valley to the Mediterranean coast of France.
• Khamsin — hot, dry, dusty wind of Egypt in spring, blowing toward the eastern Mediterranean.

• The Khamsin and Sirocco are both hot Saharan-origin winds but are classed with the Mediterranean.
• The Harmattan is also Saharan in origin — but it blows the OTHER way, into West Africa, so it is not Mediterranean.

Odd-one-out, or match-the-local-wind-to-its-region.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The 'Mistral' is a:

  • (a)hot wind of the Sahara
  • (b)cold, dry north-westerly wind of southern France
  • (c)warm downslope wind of the Alps
  • (d)dusty spring wind of Egypt

  Answer(b) cold, dry north-westerly wind blowing to the Mediterranean coast of France.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Sirocco wind originates over the:

  • (a)Alps
  • (b)Sahara Desert
  • (c)Rocky Mountains
  • (d)Andes

  Answer(b) Sahara Desert — it blows north across the Mediterranean into southern Europe.