Marsala it is not unusual to experience the effect of Sirocco wind, which brings dust and sand from the Sahara. Winters are generally rainy and cooler with temperatures ranging between minimum of (in December 2014) and . Snowfall occurs very rarely, since the temperature has never dropped below freezing, although snow has fallen before, for example in December 2014. In 397 BC the Phoenician colony of Motya on the southwestern coast of Sicily was invaded and destroyed by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I. The survivors founded a town on the mainland nearby, the site of modern-day Marsala, which they called by
Italian cruiser Marsala at a cruising speed of . "Marsala" was armed with a main battery of six L/50 guns mounted singly. She was also equipped with six L/50 guns and two torpedo tubes. The ship was only lightly armored, with a thick deck, and thick plating on her main conning tower. "Marsala"s keel was laid down at the Castellammare shipyard on 15 February 1911, the same day as "Nino Bixio". Work on "Marsala" proceeded slower than on her sister, and she was launched on 24 March 1912, where she was named for the city where Giuseppe Garibaldi launched the Expedition of the