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Les Suêtes
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:suete, the suete
n. — Cape Breton Island
strong southeasterly winds in the Cape Breton Highlands.
Type: 1. Origin — The term derives from the French sud est (south east), after the direction of the winds (see the first 2006 quotation). The term is most prevalent in Nova Scotia, of which Cape Breton is part (see Chart 1).
See: wreckhouse winds
Quotations
1990
"Un gros suete" is a southeast gale, a "chafraille" is a racket or disturbance and "hooker" means to crochet (as in hooked rugs or "tapis hookes").
1998
A FIERCE wind howls through Cheticamp the first night of mi-Car me. The suete blows in over the Cape Breton Highlands, hits the village with the force of a gale and rakes the streets with a flak of icy snow. It is a whistle and a drum, screaming a high note through the treetops and thudding on the low houses crouched by the coast.
2006
Q: I've occasionally heard the announcers on the Weather Network talk about a wind they call Les Suetes when talking about weather in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. Then I heard you make reference to them on Global TV. What are Les Suetes and do they only occur in the Atlantic Provinces? A: Canada has more than 70 names for local winds including, of course, the one we're all very familiar with, the Chinook. The prevailing wind direction in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands is westerly but, for a few weeks of the year, strong southeast winds, known locally as "Les Suetes," (from the French "sud est") blow across northern Cape Breton's open plateau and then crash down the western side of the mountains. The strongest gusts reach 200 km/h, so it's no surprise weather warnings are issued when Les Suetes are forecast. Southern Newfoundland also experiences powerful southeast winds and, although some refer to them as Les Suetes, they are more commonly called Wreckhouse winds.
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