UPPSC 2021 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 127 of 150

Correct — D, Shamal – Austria is the pair that is NOT correctly matched. The Shamal is a north-westerly wind that blows over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often raising dust and sandstorms — it is a wind of the Middle East, not of Austria. Because the question asks for the wrongly matched pair, this incorrect pairing is the answer.

• (a)Leveche – Spain — Correctly matched — the Leveche is a hot, dry southerly wind that blows in south-eastern Spain ahead of eastward-moving depressions, so this pair is right and cannot be the answer.
• (b)Brickfielder – Australia — Correctly matched — the Brickfielder is a hot, dry, dusty wind of south-eastern Australia (ahead of a cold front); this pairing is correct.
• (c)Black roller – North America — Correctly matched — 'Black roller' is a name for the dark, rolling dust storms of the North American Great Plains (Dust Bowl era); this pairing is correct.

Local (regional) winds are named air currents peculiar to a place, produced by local pressure, relief and season. UPSC/UPPSC frequently test the wind-to-region link. Here three pairs (Leveche–Spain, Brickfielder–Australia, Black roller–North America) are genuine; the odd one out is Shamal, which belongs to Iraq and the Persian Gulf, not Austria.

'Not correctly matched' questions reward the student who knows each wind's home region. The Shamal is the famous dust-raising wind of Mesopotamia and the Gulf; pairing it with Austria (a landlocked Alpine country better known for the Föhn) is the deliberate error.

• Shamal — north-westerly, dust-raising wind of Iraq and the Persian Gulf (Middle East), NOT Austria.
• Leveche — hot, dry southerly wind of south-eastern Spain.
• Brickfielder — hot, dry, dusty wind of south-eastern Australia.
• Black roller — dark, rolling dust storm of the North American Great Plains.

• Answering the correctly matched pair — read that it asks for the NOT correctly matched one
• Confusing Shamal (Iraq/Gulf) with an Alpine wind because Austria appears in the pair

UPSC/UPPSC pair a local wind with a region and ask which is not correctly matched, or give a List-I/List-II match of winds to places.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The 'Loo' is a hot, dry local wind experienced mainly in which region?

  • (a)Northern plains of India in summer
  • (b)The Sahara
  • (c)Southern California
  • (d)Argentine Pampas

  Answer(a) The northern plains of India, during the hot summer months.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is a COLD local wind?

  • (a)Sirocco
  • (b)Mistral
  • (c)Harmattan
  • (d)Chinook

  Answer(b) Mistral — a cold, dry wind blowing from the Alps to the Mediterranean (Sirocco, Harmattan and Chinook are warm).