medicane

M3E1D2I1C3A1N1E1
/ˈmɛdɪkeɪn/

noun

A hurricane-like storm that forms in the Mediterranean Sea.

Scrabble 13

Meanings

nounmedicane (plural medicanes)

plural medicanes

  1. informalclimatologyA hurricane-like storm that forms in the Mediterranean Sea.

    Thus, it is essential to study medicanes and calibrate the numerical weather prediction models in order to simulate them adequately.

    2016, Theodore Karacostas, Perspectives on Atmospheric Sciences, page 115
    4 more examples

    Mediterranean tropical-like storms (the “medicane” term has been proposed for these storms) evolve under significantly different environmental conditions compared with the tropical ones.

    [2007 January 15, L. Fita, “Analysis of the environments of seven Mediterranean tropical-like storms using an axisymmetric, nonhydrostatic, cloud resolving model”, in Natural Hazards and Earth System Science, volume 7, page 41

    The methodology is presently transferred to the analysis and projection of North Pacific polar low statistics and that of medicanes, vigorous below synopticscale cyclones in the Mediterranean (The word medicane is a hybrid of Mediterranean and hurricane).

    2013, A. Surjalal Sharma, Extreme Events and Natural Hazards: The Complexity Perspective

    After pounding parts of western and central Greece meteorologists have predicted a rare Mediterranean hurricane-like storm, or medicane, is headed south towards the island of Crete.

    2020 September 19, Helena Smith, “Medicane Ianos turns towards Crete after sweeping across Greece”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

    The flash flood that has killed thousands of people in Libya this week followed a “medicane”, a rare but destructive weather phenomenon that scientists believe will intensify in a warming world.

    2023 September 15, “What are medicanes? The ‘supercharged’ Mediterranean storms that could become more frequent”, in The Guardian, sourced from Agence France-Presse, →ISSN

    Synonyms: Mediterranean tropical cyclone

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA hurricane-like storm that forms in the Mediterranean Sea.

Origin

Translations

French médicane
  • médicaneTranslations
German Medicane
  • MedicaneTranslations
Greek μεσογειακός κυκλώνας
  • μεσογειακός κυκλώνας (mesogeiakós kyklónas)Translations

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

medicane. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/medicane

MLA

“medicane.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/medicane. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “medicane,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/medicane.

Source: medicane on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.