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As warm, moist air rises up the windward side of a mountain, the air temperature cools and loses its capacity to hold moisture. Thus, the greatest amount of rainfall is expected at mid-altitudes and can support deciduous forest development. Above a certain elevation the rising air becomes too dry and cold, and thus discourages tree growth. [9]
The terms windward and leeward are used in reference both to sides (and climates [7]) of individual islands and relative island locations in an archipelago. The windward side of an island is subject to the prevailing wind, and is thus the wetter (see orographic precipitation). The leeward side is the side distant from or physically in the lee ...
The mountain ranges on the eastern side of Madagascar provide a rain shadow for the country's western portion. The windward side of the island of Madagascar, which sees easterly on-shore winds, is wet tropical, while the western and southern sides of the island lie in the rain shadow of the central highlands and are home to thorn forests and ...
Föhn wind illustration (Left [West]: windward side, Right [East]: leeward side).The southeast Australian foehn is distinguished by three criteria; surface winds which blow from the mountains' direction, a sharp rise in air temperature in the leeward side of the mountains, and an accompanying diminution in atmospheric moisture.
Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, [1] and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. [2] Orography (also known as oreography, orology, or oreology) falls within the broader discipline of geomorphology. [3] The term orography comes from the Greek: όρος, hill, γράφω, to write.
At night, the sides of the hills cool through radiation of the heat. The air along the hills becomes cooler and denser, blowing down into the valley, drawn by gravity. This is known a mountain breeze. If the slopes are covered with ice and snow, the mountain breeze will blow during the day, carrying the cold dense air into the warmer, barren ...
The lift of the air up the side of the mountain results in adiabatic cooling with altitude, and ultimately condensation and precipitation. In mountainous parts of the world subjected to relatively consistent winds (for example, the trade winds ), a more moist climate usually prevails on the windward side of a mountain than on the leeward ...
In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where the upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating.