A combination of recent intensive observations and simulations with two numerical models is used to revisit the issue of the northern Adriatic response to strong bora episodes. New observed and simulated data reinforce the view that an episode of strong bora wind provokes a double‐gyre (cyclonic, Trieste, and anticyclonic, Rovinj) response north of the Po Delta ‐ Pula line. During an intense bora episode, both measured and modeled statistics picture a downwind, highly polarized, and almost depth‐independent flow within the Trieste gyre NW arm. Its NE arm maintains a sharp polarization and strong depth dependence while exhibiting lower speeds, with models in good accord with observations. The current statistics for Rovinj gyre provide lower maximum and average speed values and less polarized but still rather depth‐independent flow, while exhibiting clockwise rotation. The north arm of the Senj gyre (positioned south of the Po Delta–Pula line) enjoys more lateral freedom, and exhibits less rectilinear flow. Our review reinforces the notion that modeling studies based on ECMWF wind forcing fail to properly take into account the orographic control of the Dinaric Alps, and to produce correct bora‐induced gyral pattern. The COAMPS^® model successfully simulated the onset, duration, and decay of the wind peaks, but exhibited a tendency to overpredict the strength of the bora wind. Our simulations have identified the shallow NW coastal strip as an important source of colder water observed in a sequence of remotely sensed SST fields derived from AVHRR data.

This note examines two Adriatic bora events recorded in TerraSAR‐X (TS‐X) images taken in the winters of 2011 (Case 1) and 2012 (Case 2). In Case 1, the TS‐X captured an image of a deep anticyclonic bora, whereas in Case 2 a shallow cyclonic bora was sampled. High‐resolution TS‐X images resolved the finer bora spatial structure to a scale of ≈1 km, which has not previously been reported in bora research. In particular, the structures in Case 2 appear to be driven by surface convective heat fluxes caused by substantial temperature differences between the relatively high sea surface temperature (SST) and the overflowing very cold air. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations used to aid the analyses suggest that the very low upwind 2m temperature in Case 2 reinforced the orographic wave breaking by enhancing the cross‐mountain pressure gradient. The ensuing strong cross‐mountain flow was responsible for the appearance of secondary jets in the lee of Mount Velebit, for which the TS‐X Case 2 scene provides the first satellite‐borne evidence.