Chinook winds, often just called chinooks, are a wind pattern observed in midwestern North America, named for the Chinook Indians. In popular myth, Chinook is supposed to mean "snow eater", as a strong Chinook can make a foot of snow all but vanish inside of one day. The snow partially melts, and partially evaporates in the dry wind. The true origin of the name is that "Chinook Wind" in the local argot of the fur trade era meant that the wind came from the direction of the country of the Chinooks (the lower Columbia River, i.e. from across the Rocky Mountains. Wind is the roughly horizontal movement of air (as opposed to an air current) caused by uneven heating of the Earths surface. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... Chinook has several meanings: The Chinookan nation of Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, which inhabited the lower Columbia River valley in what is now Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. ... // Indian trade The fur trade (also called the Indian trade) was a huge part of the early history of contact in North America between European-Americans and American Indians (now often called Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada). ... Columbia River Gorge, Washington or North side The Columbia River is a river situated in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... White Goat Wilderness Area, Alberta, Canada The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a broad mountain range in western North America. ...

Chinook winds have been observed to elevate midwestern winter temperatures, often from below −20°C (−4°F) to as high as 10°C to 20°C (50°F to 68°F), for a few hours or days, at the end of which, the temperatures plummet to their base levels. In many parts of the world, winter is associated with snow. ... Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ...

One of the most dramatic examples of the chinook winds occurred on January 15, 1972, in Loma, Montana. The temperature rose from −47°C (−54°F) to 9°C (49°F); the greatest temperature change ever recorded during a 24-hour period. Loma is a census-designated place located in Chouteau County, Montana. ...

A "Chinook Wind" or simply "a Chinook", mean the reverse on the British Columbia Coast and Puget Sound and-Straits of Juan de Fuca, bringing warm, west southwesterlies - "from the Country of the Chinooks". The British Columbia Coast is one of Canadas two continental coastlines, the other being the coastline from the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean via the Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay to the Ungava Peninsula and Labrador and the Gulf of St. ... Puget Sound Puget Sound is an arm (sound) of the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ...

Chinooks in Alberta

Where chinooks occur most frequently

Chinooks are most prevalent over southern Alberta in Canada, especially in a belt from Pincher Creek in the Crowsnest Pass through Lethbridge, getting 30 to 35 chinook days per year on average. Chinooks become less frequent further south in the United States, and chinooks are rare north of Red Deer. Image File history File links where Chinooks occur most frequently File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links where Chinooks occur most frequently File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Motto: Fortis et Liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 2. ... Pincher Creek is a town in the province of Alberta, Canada. ... Freight train, Crowsnest Pass. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Sunny South City of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canadas Location. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Education, Industry, Progress City of Red Deer, Alberta, Canadas Location. ...

In most recent winters (since the 1980s), chinooks and warmer weather have all but banished winter to just a few spells of sharp cold of one or two weeks, and some midwinter months have averaged high temperatures over 5°C (41°F), similar to the West Coast of British Columbia, where Canada's warmest winters are found. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ...

In southern Alberta, most of the winter can be spent with little or no snow on the ground. Calgary can expect a white Christmas about 59% of the time. In Canada, only the West Coast of British Columbia and southern Ontario have fewer white Christmases than southern Alberta. Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Onward City of Calgary, Alberta, Canadas Location. ...

In Lethbridge, chinook winds can gust in excess of hurricane force (120 km/h or 75 mph). The winds gusts can be strong enough to shatter car windows through air pressure differential. On November 19, 1962, the winds there gusted to 171 km/h (107 mph) in an especially powerful chinook.

In Pincher Creek, the temperature rose by 33°C (60°F) in one hour in 1962. Also, trains have been known to be derailed by chinook winds there. 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Calgary gets many chinooks as well, but the wind is usually not very strong.

In February 1992, Claresholm, Alberta hit 24°C (75°F) — one of Canada's highest February temperatures. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Claresholm is a small community located about midway between Calgary and Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada along Highway 2. ...

Chinooks versus the Arctic air mass

In mid-winter, the chinook can seem to do battle with the Arctic air mass at times. It is not unheard of for people in Lethbridge to complain of −20°C (−4°F) temperatures while those in Cardston, just 40 minutes down the road, enjoy +10°C (50°F) temperatures in shorts and T-shirts. This clash of temperatures can remain stationary, or move back and forth, in the latter case causing such fluctuations as a warm morning, a bitterly cold afternoon, and a warm evening. A curtain of fog often accompanies the clash between warm to the west and cold to the east. In meteorology, an airmass or air mass is a large volume of air having fairly uniform characteristics of temperature, atmospheric pressure, and water vapor content. ... Cardston is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. ...

It has been reported on a local TV historical program that many years ago Cardston once reported a curtain of fog remaining over Main Street for many hours. The west side of town was balmy with melting snow, while the east side of town was bitter cold.

In Calgary, recent winters have seen situations where the airport in the northeast part of the city is reporting around −20°C and the southwest part of the city is sitting at +7°C (45°F).

Chinook arch

One of the most striking features of the chinook is the chinook arch, which is a band of stationary stratus clouds caused by air rippling over the mountains. To the those unfamiliar to the chinook, the chinook arch may look like a threatening storm cloud at times. However, they rarely produce rain or snow. They can also create stunning sunrises and sunsets. Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Stratus clouds A Stratus cloud is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective clouds that are as tall or taller than wide (these are termed Cumulus clouds). ...

The stunning colors seen in the chinook arch are quite common. Typically the colors will change throughout the day. Starting with yellow, orange, red and pink shades in the morning as the sun comes up. Gray shades in the mid day, changing to pink/red colors and then changing to orange/yellow hues just before the sun sets.

Chinook arch over Calgary, Canada

How chinooks occur

The chinook phenomenon results from the movement of high and low pressure systems over the Rocky Mountains. As the wind moves over and through the mountains, the moisture in the air condenses, warming the air by releasing latent heat. Then, as it moves downhill, the cold air above presses down upon it, resulting in further warming through adiabatic compression. A high, or a high pressure area, is a region where the atmospheric pressure is greatest with relation to the surrounding area. ... A low pressure area, or a low for short, is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lowest with relation to the surrounding area. ... White Goat Wilderness Area, Alberta, Canada The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a broad mountain range in western North America. ... Latent heat describes the amount of energy in the form of heat that is required for a material to undergo a change of phase (also known as change of state). Two latent heats are typically described. ... This article covers adiabatic processes in thermodynamics. ... Compression in material science, physics or structural engineering, is the stress state of materials where the volume tends to decrease (compaction). ...

Quite often, when the West Coast is being hammered by rain, the windward side of the Rockies is being hammered by snow (as the air loses its moisture), and the leeward side of the Rockies in Alberta is basking in a chinook. Windward is the direction from which a present wind is blowing. ... Wilcox Pass The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. ... Windward is the direction from which a present wind is blowing. ...

Two common cloud patterns seen during this time are:

• A chinook arch overhead

and/or

• A bank of clouds obscuring the mountains to the west. It would appear to be an approaching storm, but it does not advance any further east.

The Manyberries chinook

Often, a chinook is preceded by a "Manyberries chinook" during the end of a cold spell. This southeast wind (named for a small village, now a hamlet, in southeastern Alberta, from where the wind seems to originate) can be fairly strong and cause bitter windchill and blowing snow. The wind will eventually swing around to the southwest and the temperature rises sharply as the real chinook arrives. Wind chill is the apparent temperature felt on the exposed human (or animal) body due to the combination of air temperature and wind speed. ...

The Chinook in British Columbia

The term Chinook Wind is also used in British Columbia, but there it refers to the same winds before they are dried out by the successive ranges of mountains between the Coast and Alberta. Such winds are extremely wet and warm and come from the southwest, and are also known as the Pineapple Express since they come straight (more or less) from the area of Hawaii; in the days of the sailing ships vessels carrying fresh fruit from Hawaii reached Vancouver, Seattle and Portland in record time, hence the name Pineapple Express - which also applies because of the wind's warmth, which is a blessing in winter. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ... Motto: Fortis et Liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 2. ... This article refers to the city in British Columbia, Canada. ... Nickname: The Emerald City Motto: Official website: http://www. ... Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon, and county seat of Multnomah County. ...

Typically a weatherman in Vancouver might say "the Chinook is going to last for another five days, so expect heavy rain for the next week. The mountains [i.e. for skiing] will be rainy to the alpine, so expect lots of slush on the slopes." But when a Chinook comes in when an Arctic air mass is holding steady over the Coast, the tropical damp brought in suddenly cools and falls, penetrating the frozen air and coming down in volumes of powder, sometimes to sea level. Snowfalls and the cold spells that spawned them only last a few days during a Chinook, as the weather blows in from the southwest and rains out the snow, which melts quickly and is gone within a week.

The effects on the Interior of the province when a Chinook is in effect are the reverse. In a rainy spell, most of the heavy moisture will be soaked out by the ramparts of mountains before the air mass reaches the Canyon and the Thompson-Okanagan. The effects are similar to those of an Alberta Chinook, though not to the same extreme, in part because the Okanagan is relatively warmer than the Prairies, and because of the additional number of precipitation-catching mountain ranges in between Kelowna and Calgary. And when the Chinook brings snow on the Coast during a period of coastal cold, bright but chilly weather in the Interior will give way to a slushy melting of snow because of the warm spell more than because of rain. View of Fraser Canyon near Fountain, BC View of Fraser Canyon looking upstream from Fountain, B.C. The Fraser Canyon is a stretch of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains enroute from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser... Thompson can refer to: // People Exceptionally well-known individuals whose surname is or was Thompson include: Benjamin Thompson – Anglo-American physicist, usually called Count Rumford Dave Thompson – British standup comedian Daley Thompson - Olimpic Gold Medalist Emma Thompson – British actress Francis Thompson – English poet Hunter S. Thompson – U.S. journalist and... A view overlooking Skaha Lake in the Okanagan Valley The regional districts that comprise the Okanagan are shown in red. ... For other uses, see Alberta (disambiguation). ... A view overlooking Skaha Lake in the Okanagan Valley The regional districts that comprise the Okanagan are shown in red. ... Locator map for Kelowna, BC Kelowna (2001 population 96,288, metropolitan population 147,739) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Onward City of Calgary, Alberta, Canadas Location. ... The British Columbia Coast is one of Canadas two continental coastlines, the other being the coastline from the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean via the Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay to the Ungava Peninsula and Labrador and the Gulf of St. ...

The word is in common usage among local fishermen and people in wilderness communities along the British Columbia Coast. The term is also used in the Puget Sound area of Washington. The British Columbia Coast is one of Canadas two continental coastlines, the other being the coastline from the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean via the Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay to the Ungava Peninsula and Labrador and the Gulf of St. ... Puget Sound Puget Sound is an arm (sound) of the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 18th 184,824 km² 385 km 580 km 6. ...

An outflow wind is the opposite of A BC/Pacific Northwest Chinook. These are called a squamish in certain areas. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ... A squamish is a strong and often violent wind occurring in many of the fjord of British Columbia, akin to the Williwaw of the Alaska Panhandle. ...

Pronunciation of Chinook in B.C. and the Pacific Northwest

In BC and the Pacific Northwest the word Chinook is pronounced with a tshi-; in Alberta and across Canada from there a mock-French pronunciation of the name is preferred and (incorrectly) considered the correct standard. The variance in pronunciation may be because it was the Métis employees of the Hudson's Bay Company who were familiar with the Chinook people and their country, and so it was them who brought the name east of the Rockies, along with their own ethnified pronunciation. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ... Darker red states are always part of the Pacific Northwest. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mestizo. ... The Hudsons Bay Company (HBC) TSX: HBC is the oldest corporation in Canada (and the second oldest in North America) and is one of the oldest in the world still in existence. ... Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) View of Colorado Rockies. ...

A First Nations Myth of B.C. of the Chinook-Wind.

Native legend of the Lil'wat subgroup of the St'at'imc tells of a girl named Chinook-Wind, who married Glacier, and moved to his country, which was in the area of today's Birkenhead River. She pined for her warm sea-home in the southwest, and sent a message to her people. They came to her in a vision in the form of snowflakes, and told her they were coming to get her. They came in great number and quarrelled with Glacier over her, but they overwhelmed him and she went home with them in the end. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ... Státimc (also Lillooet, Stlatlimx, Sƛ’aƛ’imxǝc, Státimc). ... Aletsch glacier, Switzerland A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. ... The Birkenhead River is a major tributary of the Lillooet River, which via Harrison Lake and the Harrison River is one of the major tributaries of the lower Fraser River. ...

While on the one hand tells a tribal family-relations story, and family/tribal history as well, the tale also seems to be a parable of a typical weather pattern of a southwesterly at first bringing snow, then rain, and also of the melting of a glacier, perhaps the Place Glacier near Birken Lake or the once-great Birkenhead River glacier 10,000 years ago, when most of this region was icefield, and so also tells of a migration of people to the area, (or a war, depending on how the details of the legend might be read, with Chinook-Wind taking the part of Helen in a First Nations parallel to the Trojan War). The Birkenhead River is a major tributary of the Lillooet River, which via Harrison Lake and the Harrison River is one of the major tributaries of the lower Fraser River. ... Helen was the wife of Menelaus and reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. ... Carved mask in Vancouver First Nations is a term for ethnicity used in Canada to replace the word Indian. It refers to the Indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis. ... The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of the Achaeans, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ...

Chinooks and health

It is said that chinook winds can cause a sharp increase in the number of migraine headaches suffered by the locals. It is also popularly believed they can increase irritability and sleeplessness. In mid-winter, over major centers such as Calgary, chinooks can often override cold air in the city, trapping the pollutants in the cold air and causing inversion smog. At such times, it is possible for it to be cold at street level and much warmer at the tops of the skyscrapers and in higher terrain. Irritability is an irregularly updated web comic by Mike E. Woodson. ... It has been suggested that Primary insomnia be merged into this article or section. ... The inversion effect is a phenomenon that keeps smog at ground level due to layers of air having different temperatures. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Temperature inversion in Bratislava Casual view from old part of city, same Bridge A temperature inversion is a meteorological phenomenon where air temperature increases with height. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Chinooks and tall tales (folklore)

There are two especially famous chinook folk tales that most people in southern Alberta are probably familiar with in some form or another from childhood stories.

• A man rode his horse to church, only to find just the steeple sticking out of the snow. So, he tied his horse to the steeple with the other horses, and went down the snow tunnel to attend services. When everybody emerged from the church, they found that a chinook had melted all of the snow, and their horses were now all dangling from the church steeple.
• A man was riding his sleigh when a chinook overcame him. He kept pace with the wind, and while the horses were running in deep snow, the back of the sleigh was running through mud.

Other chinooks

A similar phenomenon (also called chinook winds) occurs in the Cook Inlet region in Alaska as air moves over the Chugach mountains between Prince William Sound and Portage Glacier. Anchorage residents commonly (but wrongly) believe the warm winds to be a midwinter gift from Hawaii, melting snow and leaving streets slushy and muddy. Chinook winds (though they may be named something else) can occur in most places with nearby mountains. Denver for example, is often affected with chinook winds from the Front Range raising winter temperatures from below freezing to around 50 °F (10 °C), in just a few hours. Chinook winds also occur in Salt Lake City and Albuquerque. Cook Inlet, showing Knik and Turnagain Arms The Cook Inlet or Nuti Inlet is a large inlet of the Gulf of Alaska in south-central Alaska. ... Official language(s) English Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 1st 663,267 mi² / 1,717,854 km² 808 mi / 1,300 km 1,479 mi / 2,380 km 13. ... Chugach (pronounced CHOO-gatch) is the name of a native Alaskan culture and group of people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound. ... Prince William Sound, on the south coast of Alaska. ... Portage Glacier in 1958 The Portage Glacier (60° 45′ 11″ N 148° 47′ 08″ W) is located on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, and trends north to Portage Lake, 6 km (4 mi) west of Whittier, Chugach Mountains. ... City nickname: City of Lights Location in the state of Alaska Borough Municipality of Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich Area  - Land  - Water 5,079. ... Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 43rd 28,337 km² n/a km 2,450 km 41. ... This article refers to the state capital of Colorado. ... The Front Range is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States The Front Range is a mountain range in the United States on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, and on the western edge of the Great Plains. ... Aerial view of Temple Square of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Citys top tourist draw. ... Downtown Albuquerque Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. ...

See also

• Diablo wind
• Föhn wind
• Katabatic winds
• Santa Ana wind
• Sundowner wind

Diablo wind is a regional term for the foehn wind that often occurs in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... A föhn wind or foehn wind occurs when a deep layer of prevailing wind is forced over a mountain range. ... A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning going downhill, is a wind that blows down a topographic incline such as a hill, mountain, or glacier. ... Santa Ana winds are warm, dry winds that characteristically appear in Southern California weather during autumn and early winter. ...

References

• http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/origins/origins.html
• http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/media/xmas/prob_e.html