CTD data were collected weekly during 20 cruises from May to September 2003 over a 19 station grid in a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic Sea as part of the Adriatic Sea Integrated Coastal Areas and River Basin Management System Pilot Project (ADRICOSM). Relative geostrophic velocities indicated fine scale circulation patterns in the area consisting of two pronounced circulation cells, of cyclonic and anticyclonic character, and that were present in the area for most of the investigated period. These motions were induced primarily by spatial variations in the temperature field and may be strengthened during episodes of very strong northeasterly bora wind, when the investigated region is not heated (cooled) uniformly.