Chinook Winds

weather · mountains · wind patterns

Two types of Chinooks. Coastal Chinooks are wet winds that blow from the ocean toward the Pacific Northwest, while interior Chinooks are dry winds that rush down the eastern sides of mountain ranges.

Moisture makers. Coastal Chinook winds carry enormous amounts of water from the ocean, dropping it as rain on the coast and snow in the mountains to feed the lush rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.

Mountain wind effect. Interior Chinooks are föhn winds, which means they form when air is pushed up and over a mountain, then warms as it slides down the other side, arriving dry and warm.

Named long ago. The term 'Chinook' originally came from the coastal winds along the Pacific Northwest, and people later used the same name for the similar winds that blow in the interior.