katabatic
Cold air descending
Katabatic describes wind that flows downhill, driven by gravity pulling cold, dense air from higher elevations toward lower ground.
These winds form when air cools on mountain slopes or ice sheets and drains into valleys below: Katabatic winds off the glacier made the coastal weather brutal.
The opposite—wind flowing uphill—is anabatic.
Toward lower elevation
- slopeAngled terrain or steepness
- gradientRate of change across space
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- inclineAngled rising surface
declivity · escarpment · ice sheet · glacier · plateau · ridge · elevation · alpine
Warm downslope wind
Mutual mass attraction
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
- coolingLosing thermal energy
- accelerationRate velocity changes
- convectionHeat transfer via motion
thermal · radiation · heat loss · air mass · pressure gradient · buoyancy · thermodynamics · adiabatic cooling
High-pressure weather system
- barometerInstrument gauging atmospheric pressure
- high-pressureInvolving urgent demands
- isobarConstant pressure contour
- synopticProviding general overview
pressure · thermometer · temperature · precipitation · front · climate · inversion · atmospheric
downslope
Toward lower elevation
incline · declivity · escarpment · ice sheet · glacier · plateau · ridge · elevation · alpine · polar
foehn
Warm downslope wind
gravity
Mutual mass attraction
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
- coolingLosing thermal energy
- accelerationRate velocity changes
convection · thermal · radiation · heat loss · air mass · pressure gradient · buoyancy · thermodynamics · adiabatic cooling · heat transfer
anticyclone
High-pressure weather system
- barometerInstrument gauging atmospheric pressure
- high-pressureInvolving urgent demands
- isobarConstant pressure contour
synoptic · pressure · thermometer · temperature · precipitation · front · climate · inversion · atmospheric · mesoscale