Chinook

Definition: A chinook is a warm, dry, gusty wind that blows down the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, across the foothills and the Western prairies. With a chinook, the temperature rises quickly, sometimes up to 20°C in an hour. Wind speed Can range from 16 km/h (10 mph) to 60 km/h (37 mph), gusting to 100 km/h (62 mph). Southern Alberta gets an average of 20 to 30 chinook days a year, most often in the winter. The term chinook comes from an Indian word meaning "snow eater."