The same warm, wet coastal winds can also become the warm föhn winds on the eastern sides of mountain ranges, after having lost their moisture on the western sides however, due to expanded use of the term in the interior for any föhn wind, interior Chinooks are not necessarily originally coastal Chinooks. There the name is pronounced / ʃ ɪ ˈ n ʊ k/ ('shin'+'uk').

In North American western interior, the same name is used for föhn winds, generally, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains lie immediately east of various interior mountain ranges.The coastal Chinook winds deliver tremendous amounts of moisture both as rain along the coast and snow in the coastal mountains, that sustain the characteristic temperate rainforests and climate of the Pacific Northwest.Īdiabatic warming of downward moving air this produces the warm föhn wind called a 'Chinook' (pronounced shin‑uk) in interior North America. Along the Pacific Northwest coast, where the name is pronounced / t ʃ ɪ ˈ n ʊ k/ ('chin'+'uk'), the name refers to wet, warm winds off the ocean from the southwest this is the original use of the term.

The coastal Chinooks were the original term, used along the northwest coast, and the term in the interior of North America is later and derives from the coastal term. The interior Chinooks are occasional warm, dry föhn winds blowing down the eastern sides of interior mountain ranges. The coastal Chinooks are persistent seasonal, wet, southwesterly winds blowing in from the ocean. For the casino, see Chinook Winds Casino.Ĭhinook winds, or simply Chinooks, are two types of prevailing warm, generally westerly winds in western North America: Coastal Chinooks and interior Chinooks.

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