METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY
A chinook is a wind most notable in the northern high plains that brings in drier and warmer
weather. One of the main reasons for the change in the weather is the sloped elevation. When air
moves from the higher elevations of the west it
downslopes as it moves east. Since the air
is downsloping the temperature and
relative humidity of the air will change
adiabatically. Sinking air
warms at the dry adiabatic lapse rate. When this warmer air replaces a very cold polar
air mass the
temperature increase can be dramatic. Another name for the chinook is "snow eater" since the warm
and dry air quickly melts and evaporates snow away that is on the ground. The air at the high
elevations tends to be dry (low dewpoint). When air downslopes it dries the air even more since the relative
humidity decreases. As the temperature of air warms as it downslopes the temperature and dewpoint
diverge (dewpoint depression becomes greater). As the
dewpoint depression increases the
relative humidity decreases. The chinook is most notable in the winter in the northern high plains.
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