Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A katabatic wind (named from Ancient Greek κατάβασις 'descent') is a downslope wind caused by the flow of an elevated, high-density air mass into a lower-density air mass below under the force of gravity.
McMurdo Sound experiences katabatic winds from the Antarctic polar plateau. McMurdo Sound freezes over with sea ice about 3 metres (9.8 ft) thick during the winter. During the austral summer when the pack ice breaks up, wind and currents may push the ice northward into the Ross Sea, stirring up cold bottom currents that spill into the ocean basins.
The unique conditions in the Dry Valleys are caused, in part, by katabatic winds; these occur when cold, dense air is pulled downhill by the force of gravity. The dry wind evaporates the snow rapidly and little melts into the soil. During the summer, this process can take only hours. Another important factor is a lack of precipitation.
Katabatic wind [ edit ] Commonwealth Bay is listed in both the Guinness Book of World Records and the Eighth Edition of the National Geographic Atlas as the windiest place on Earth, with winds regularly exceeding 240 kilometres (150 mi) per hour and an average annual wind speed of 80 kilometres (50 mi) per hour.
Coastal polynyas are produced in the Antarctic by katabatic winds Katabatic wind spilling off an ice shelf A frosty Arctic condensation plume marks this polynya near the west shore of Hudson Bay. This one (and others nearby) are likely kept open by tidal currents. Mile-high west-facing aerial view.
Since the Last Glacial Period, temperature trends have suggested that the interplay from the Antarctic High and Southern Annular Mode has played a significant role in katabatic winds over the Patriot Hills Base Camp. [3]
The polar cell, terrain, and katabatic winds in Antarctica can create very cold conditions at the surface, for instance the lowest temperature recorded on Earth: −89.2 °C at Vostok Station in Antarctica, measured in 1983. [6] [7] [8]
Berg wind, a seasonal katabatic wind blowing down the Great Escarpment from the high central plateau to the coast in South Africa. Cape Doctor , often persistent and dry south-easterly wind that blows on the South African coast from spring to late summer (September to March in the southern hemisphere).