Why is the air warmer at the bottom than at the start?

It lost moisture and warmed at the faster dry rate

What is a foehn wall?

A bank of clouds over the mountain crest

Foehn Wind Quiz: Warm Dry Winds Over the Mountains

This foehn wind quiz follows air over the Alps and down the other side. Play 10 interactive questions on air cooling and dropping rain as it rises, warming faster as it sinks, the Alpine origin of the name, the chinook of the Rocky Mountains nicknamed the snow eater, a record temperature jump in South Dakota, the foehn wall of clouds and folk tales of foehn headaches.

Start Foehn Wind Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Type
What kind of wind is a foehn?
Region
Where does the name foehn come from?
Rise
What happens as moist air rises over mountains?
Heat
What releases heat during that rise?
Sink
What happens as dry air sinks down the other side?
Result
Why is the air warmer at the bottom than at the start?
Chinook
What is the foehn-type wind of the Rocky Mountains called?
Snow
What nickname does the chinook have?
Record
Where did temperatures jump dramatically in two minutes in 1943?
Wall
What is a foehn wall?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What kind of wind is a foehn?
Answer: A warm, dry downslope wind
It blows down the lee side.
Q2: Where does the name foehn come from?
Answer: The Alps
German-speaking regions use it.
Q3: What happens as moist air rises over mountains?
Answer: It cools and drops rain
The windward side gets wet.
Q4: What releases heat during that rise?
Answer: Water vapor condensing
This slows the cooling.
Q5: What happens as dry air sinks down the other side?
Answer: It warms quickly
Compression heats it.
Q6: Why is the air warmer at the bottom than at the start?
Answer: It lost moisture and warmed at the faster dry rate
This is the foehn effect.
Q7: What is the foehn-type wind of the Rocky Mountains called?
Answer: Chinook
It blows onto the plains.
Q8: What nickname does the chinook have?
Answer: Snow eater
It can melt snow fast.
Q9: Where did temperatures jump dramatically in two minutes in 1943?
Answer: Spearfish, South Dakota
A chinook swept in.
Q10: What is a foehn wall?
Answer: A bank of clouds over the mountain crest
It marks the windward clouds.

Warm Winds From the Mountains

A foehn is a warm, dry wind that blows down the lee side of mountains. The name comes from the Alps. As moist air rises over the mountains, it cools and drops rain or snow on the windward side. Condensing water vapor releases heat, so the air cools more slowly while rising.

After crossing the crest, the now drier air sinks and warms quickly as it is compressed. It reaches the valleys warmer and drier than where it started, the foehn effect. A bank of clouds called the foehn wall often hangs over the crest, marking the wet windward side.

In North America's Rocky Mountains, the foehn-type chinook blows onto the plains and is nicknamed the snow eater because it melts snow fast. In 1943, a chinook sent temperatures in Spearfish, South Dakota, soaring by many degrees in two minutes. Folk tales blame foehn winds for headaches and bad moods.

What This Quiz Teaches

Weather fans will enjoy these questions.

What a foehn is
How air changes over mountains
Why it warms
Where chinooks blow
What records it set

Did You Know?

Foehn winds can fan wildfires.
Alpine valleys get early spring melts.
Similar winds blow in New Zealand.
Clear skies often follow foehn.
Avalanche risk can rise quickly.