It comes suddenly, unannounced and blows uncontrollably. It messes up your hair and carefully chosen styling, takes off your hats and makes you balance while walking like you are a man on a wire. It’s been here longer than Belgrade and throughout the ages it became a symbol of the city, same as the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers or Kalemegdan and the Victor Monument. Nobody likes košava, yet everybody is grateful for it since it clears the polluted Belgrade air.

photo: Dusan Rakic – Flickr.com

Košava commonly blows from autumn until spring and rarely during summertime. It comes from the southeast with great strength – its highest speed of 130km/h was recorded in Belgrade in 1976. On rare occasions it can surprise us with a short wave of warmth during wintertime or it can come as a cooling breeze in summer, making long and hot days easier to survive on Belgrade concrete.

photo: Mitar Mitrovic – www.cdm.me

If coming to Belgrade from October to April don’t be surprised with a weak wind suddenly becoming stronger and stronger that could in a moment make you “fly” along the city streets as if you were a piece of paper. Watch out, košava carries everything and everybody that “stands” on its path and in a very picturesque way shows the strength of nature and and its supremacy over man. It is common belief that košava blows 1, 3, 7 or 21 days and almost never goes out of that schedule. So if during your visit to Belgrade you experience košava’s strength, start counting the days. And hope that it will blow long enough to experience its unique force yet short enough so that you can still enjoy Belgrade and its one of a kind spirit and atmosphere.