downslope wind
From Glossary of Meteorology
- A wind directed down a slope, often used to describe winds produced by processes larger in scale than the slope.
Because this flow produces subsidence, downslope winds experience warming, drying, increasing stability, and clearing if clouds are present.
- Flow directed down a mountain slope and driven by cooling at the earth's surface: a component of the mountain–valley or mountain–plains wind systems;
same as katabatic wind.
The many synonyms for downslope flow are sometimes used interchangeably, and this gives rise to ambiguity and confusion. Downslope can be used generically to denote any wind flow blowing down a slope, or it is used specifically for katabatic flows on any scale, such as the nocturnal slope-wind component of mountain–valley wind systems or mountain–plains wind systems.
See katabatic wind, gravity wind, drainage wind, fall wind, bora, foehn, chinook.
