Embate

The Madeirans call "embate" the wind that blows from the sea during the day, and "terral" the wind that blows from the land during the night. The "embate" usually begins from 8 to 9 o'clock in the morning and disappears in the afternoon; the "terral" manifests itself from 9 to 10 o'clock at night and lasts until the early morning of the next day. Between the appearance of these two winds, there is always an interval in which the atmosphere becomes calm.

The winds we refer to present great anomalies in the winter, but in the summer they blow with great regularity, due to the difference in temperature between the land and the sea, day and night. During the day, as the sun's rays heat the air on land, and this, becoming lighter, rises to the upper regions, the breeze comes from the sea; at night, as the land atmosphere is cooler than that of the sea, the opposite phenomenon occurs.