The local wind bora is a well-known phenomenon on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, where steep mountains, the Dinaric Alps, closely follow the coast. In a relatively undisturbed atmosphere the coastal thermal effect and the dynamic effect of orography give rise to a cool downslope land breeze, the borino, which develops at night-time, and particularly in the winter season, when the land—sea temperature contrast is large. The causes of cold bora, with strong and gusty winds, are then attributed to the synoptic scale effects upon the local flow intensification and inland cold air supply. Since the interaction processes on various scale motions are involved in a sequence of bora spells, it is shown how the large scale anomalies may subsequently change the mesoscale characteristics of the bora environment and eventually make the bora appear as a relatively warm wind.