katabatic wind

Thesaurus

Noun

katabatic wind - a wind caused by the downward motion of cold aircatabatic windair current, current of air, wind - air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure; "trees bent under the fierce winds"; "when there is no wind, row"; "the radioactivity was being swept upwards by the air current and out into the atmosphere"

katabatic wind

[¦kad·ə¦bad·ik ′wind] (meteorology) gravity wind

Katabatic Wind

a flow of cold air down relatively gentle slopes of mountain ranges, caused by the force of gravity (in contrast to the bora, which blows down steep slopes). Such winds are observed primarily at night when the ground layer of air cools. They include glacier winds, which are more intense in the summer when the air above glaciers is especially cool relative to the air above the surrounding area at the same elevation. The most severe katabatic winds occur in Antarctica, where air flows from the high continental ice cap to the shores; these winds reach high velocities near the shores but do not extend farther than 8–10 km into the ocean. The direction of katabatic winds at the antarctic shore is most frequently southeast; this is a result of the meridional component of the wind and the eastward movement of air around a continent in the course of general atmospheric circulation.

katabatic wind

The cold wind that flows down the slopes of the mountains and spreads at the base of the mountains.

katabatic wind

katabatic wind

katabatic wind

Katabatic Wind

katabatic wind

katabatic wind

Synonyms for katabatic wind

noun a wind caused by the downward motion of cold air

Synonyms

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