What is it about?
A 30-year study conducted to 1) determine the typical characteristics and synoptic conditions of foehn wind events that produced strong warming near the southern Appalachian Mountains and 2) further examine those events that produced dewpoint rises. This climatological study is a follow-up to a previous study that found the dewpoint temperature rose along with the temperature of foehn winds occurring downwind of the Smoky Mountains. This longer-term study examines whether that previous finding was unique, or typically occurs with foehn wind events near the southern Appalachian mountains.
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Why is it important?
An interesting (and possibly unique) finding observed with these southern Appalachian foehn wind events (compared with other documented foehn wind events) was the rise in surface dewpoint temperatures during nearly three-fourths of the events on the western side of the mountains and around one-third of the events on the eastern side. Most foehn wind events in other parts of the world experience air that dries significantly as it warms, while the foehn wind events near the southern Appalachian mountains typically experience air that moistens (or dries very little) as it warms.
Perspectives
This climatological study is a follow-up to a previous study that found the dewpoint temperature rising along with the temperature of foehn winds occurring downwind of the Smoky Mountains. This longer-term study examines whether that previous finding was unique, or typically occurs with foehn wind events near the southern Appalachian mountains.
David Morris Gaffin
National Weather Service
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Foehn Winds That Produced Large Temperature Differences near the Southern Appalachian Mountains, Weather and Forecasting, February 2007, American Meteorological Society,
DOI: 10.1175/waf970.1.
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