Foehn is a warm dry wind coming off the lee slopes of a mountain range, especially off the northern slopes of the Alps, Tyrol and Inn Valley. Winds of this type are called "snow-eaters" for their ability to make snow melt or sublimate rapidly.
Above the clouds - Alps
As the name implies, Foehn winds are dry and hot. They descend along the leeside of mountains, and are special to mountainous regions. Foehn winds are caused by the subsidence of moist air after passing a high mountain. The air is forced to move upslope when encounters a mountain barrier. As the temperature decreases with height, the moist air will become saturated and condense to form clouds and rain when it rises to a certain height. The amount of water vapour that remains in the air therefore decreases. After passing the ridge and descending along the leeside of the mountain, the air becomes warmer. Temperature of drier air will rise even faster. This results in dry and hot winds. Foehn winds are rather common in mountainous regions around the world, such as the Alps in Europe, Rockies in the United States, Tianshan and Qinling in China. Apart from bringing warmer and drier weather, Foehn winds can cause serious natural disasters. They bring droughts, dry up plants and farmlands, and exacerbate forest fires. They also melt snow, causing avalanche and floods.
The name föhn originated in the alpine region. From Latin (ventus) favonius, a mild west wind of which Favonius was the Roman personification. The German word "Fön" (without the "H", but pronounced the same way), a genericized trademark, is also used to mean "hairdryer". /Wikipeia/.
Our body reacts negatively to negative electric charges, and in “meteoropathic” subjects who are particularly sensitive to the variations in the weather, this provokes nervousness, anxiety, migraine and irritability. A statistical study carried out in Switzerland, where this wind is called Favonio, correlated the days of Foehn winds with an increase in the number of suicides, homicides and aggressions.
The first clinical review of these effects was published by the Austrian physician, Anton Czermak in the 19th century. A study by the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München found that suicide and accidents increased by 10 percent during föhn winds in Central Europe.
Regionally, these winds are known by many different names. For example:
Föhn - Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, France,
Favonio - Ticino and Italy
Sirocco - Italy
Bergwind - South Africa
Chinook - Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range in the United States and Canada,
Fogony - Catalan Pyrenees
Halny - Poland (Central Europe)
Hnúkaþeyr - Iceland
Lyvas - Greece
Puelche - Chile
Zonda - Argentina
Wuhan - China
Above the clouds - Alps
As the name implies, Foehn winds are dry and hot. They descend along the leeside of mountains, and are special to mountainous regions. Foehn winds are caused by the subsidence of moist air after passing a high mountain. The air is forced to move upslope when encounters a mountain barrier. As the temperature decreases with height, the moist air will become saturated and condense to form clouds and rain when it rises to a certain height. The amount of water vapour that remains in the air therefore decreases. After passing the ridge and descending along the leeside of the mountain, the air becomes warmer. Temperature of drier air will rise even faster. This results in dry and hot winds. Foehn winds are rather common in mountainous regions around the world, such as the Alps in Europe, Rockies in the United States, Tianshan and Qinling in China. Apart from bringing warmer and drier weather, Foehn winds can cause serious natural disasters. They bring droughts, dry up plants and farmlands, and exacerbate forest fires. They also melt snow, causing avalanche and floods.
The name föhn originated in the alpine region. From Latin (ventus) favonius, a mild west wind of which Favonius was the Roman personification. The German word "Fön" (without the "H", but pronounced the same way), a genericized trademark, is also used to mean "hairdryer". /Wikipeia/.
Our body reacts negatively to negative electric charges, and in “meteoropathic” subjects who are particularly sensitive to the variations in the weather, this provokes nervousness, anxiety, migraine and irritability. A statistical study carried out in Switzerland, where this wind is called Favonio, correlated the days of Foehn winds with an increase in the number of suicides, homicides and aggressions.
The first clinical review of these effects was published by the Austrian physician, Anton Czermak in the 19th century. A study by the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München found that suicide and accidents increased by 10 percent during föhn winds in Central Europe.
Regionally, these winds are known by many different names. For example:
Föhn - Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, France,
Favonio - Ticino and Italy
Sirocco - Italy
Bergwind - South Africa
Chinook - Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range in the United States and Canada,
Fogony - Catalan Pyrenees
Halny - Poland (Central Europe)
Hnúkaþeyr - Iceland
Lyvas - Greece
Puelche - Chile
Zonda - Argentina
Wuhan - China
