A wind that has its own name…should also be a car model.
OFF THE CHINOOK
While winters can be frigid along the eastern Rocky Mountains, warm winds called Chinooks can send temperatures climbing suddenly and dramatically. The Chinooks start as moist weather patterns, originating off the Pacific coast. The breezes cool as they climb the western slopes, but they rapidly heat up as they sink down the eastern mountainsides, sometimes hiking temperatures by 10 degrees in a matter of minutes. Humidity drops as well when the winds barrel in, sometimes by more than 40 percent. The warming winds can make a foot of snow vanish in an hour. In January 1966, the temperature rose 21° in four minutes when a Chinook blew into Pincher Creek, Alberta. On January 11, 1983, temperatures in Calgary shot up 30° Celsius in four hours, from −17° to 13°.
In southwestern Alberta, Chinooks can clock in at 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour. On November 19, 1962, Lethbridge was blasted by 171 kilometer (106 mile) per hour gusts. While the winds may bring welcome relief from the cold, many say they also bring migraine headaches. The number of migraines often spikes when the Chinooks blow through; locals call them “Chinook headaches.”
FULL OF HOT AIR
Mother Nature can take a beating, too. Trees can dehydrate from the warmth. The thermal forces kill foliage and cause wood to split. The white birch cannot live through rapid heat shifts. Evergreen needles can dry out and turn red, causing a phenomenon called red belt. Looking up into the mountain, people may spot a line of red evergreens—these are trees that have lost the life in their needles due to dehydration. The dehydration can trigger forest fires as well. With soil moisture disappearing, the soil can blow away, and melting snows can expose plants and animals before winter has ended. So the winds can have devastating effects on wildlife.
The strong positive charge that is often in the air of the Chinooks can even electrify wire fences. Cattle have been electrocuted from the sudden mysterious electrification. Sounds are also said to be carried great distances along the winds—such as trains that are miles away.
The greatest landside in North American history buried the small town of Frank, Alberta in 1903.