[feyn; Ger. fœn] 
| a warm, dry wind descending a mountain, as on the north side of the Alps. |
| foehn also föhn (fɶn, fān) n. A warm dry wind coming off the lee slopes of a mountain range, especially off the northern slopes of the Alps. [German Föhn, from Middle High German fɶnne, from Old High German phōno, from Vulgar Latin *faōnius, from Latin favōnius, the west wind, from favēre, to be favorable.] |
| foehn also föhn (fɶn, fān) Pronunciation Key
A warm, dry, and often strong wind coming off the lee slopes of a mountain range, especially off the northern slopes of the Alps. A foehn is a katabatic wind that warms as it descends because it has dropped its moisture before crossing the mountain range and is put under greater atmospheric pressure as it moves downward. Various local names are also used for foehns (such as chinook in the Rocky Mountain regions). A foehn can cause sudden and dramatic increases in the temperature—from 10° to 20°C (50° to 68°F) in a few minutes—which can cause snow to melt rapidly and even trigger flooding. See also chinook. |
foehn
warm and dry, gusty wind that periodically descends the leeward slopes of nearly all mountains and mountain ranges. The name was first applied to a wind of this kind that occurs in the Alps, where the phenomenon was first studied.
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