katabatic

American  

[kat-uh-bat-ik] / ˌkæt əˈbæt ɪk /

adjective

Meteorology.

1. (of a wind or air current) moving downward or down a slope.

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katabatic British  

/ ˌkætəˈbætɪk /

adjective

1. (of winds) blowing downhill through having become denser with cooling, esp at night when heat is lost from the earth's surface Compare anabatic

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katabatic Scientific  

/ kăt′ə-băt′ĭk /

1. Relating to wind currents that blow down a gradient, especially down the slopes of a mountain or glacier. When air comes in contact with the cool surface of a glacier or the upper regions of a mountain or slope, the air cools, becomes dense, and blows downward. Katabatic winds are usually cool and are especially common at night in polar regions.

2. Compare anabatic

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Etymology

Origin of katabatic

1915–20; < Greek katabatikós pertaining to going down, equivalent to kata- kata- + ba- (stem of baínein to go; see basis) + -tikos -tic

Example Sentences

"We believe that the katabatic winds are the response of healthy glaciers to rising global temperatures and that this phenomenon could help preserve the permafrost and surrounding vegetation," says Guyennon.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2023

These are likely Martian versions of the katabatic winds that batter Antarctica.

From The Guardian • Feb. 24, 2020

These features, they know, are carved by katabatic winds from above and by invisible rivers from below.

From Scientific American • Jul. 27, 2018

This is katabatic wind which intermittently blows off the polar plateau to the south.

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2014

This is thanks, grudgingly, to the steady katabatic winds coming off the ice sheet.

From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2011