<p>The mistral is a northerly low level jet blowing through the Rhône valley in southern France, and down to the Gulf of Lions. It is co-located with the cold sector of a low level lee-cyclone in the Gulf of Genoa, behind an upper level trough north of the Alps. The mistral wind has long been associated with extreme weather events in the Mediterranean, and while extensive research focused on the low-tropospheric mistral and lee-cyclogenesis, the different upper-tropospheric large- and synoptic-scale settings involved in producing the mistral wind are not generally known. Here, the isentropic potential vorticity (PV) structures governing the occurrence of the mistral wind are classified using a self-organizing map (SOM) clustering algorithm. Based upon a 36-year (1981–2016) mistral database and daily ERA-Interim isentropic PV data, 16 distinct mistral-associated PV structures emerge. Each classified flow pattern corresponds to a different type or stage of the Rossby wave life-cycle, from broad troughs, thin PV streamers, to distinguished cut-offs. Each of these PV patterns exhibit a distinct surface impact in terms of the surface cyclone, surface turbulent heat fluxes, wind, temperature and precipitation. A clear seasonal separation between the clusters is evident and transitions between the clusters correspond to different Rossby wave-breaking processes. This analysis provides a new perspective on the variability of the mistral, and of the Genoa lee-cyclogenesis in general, linking the upper-level PV structures to their surface impact over Europe, the Mediterranean and north Africa.</p>