föhn

/ føːn; fɜːn /

noun

1. a warm dry wind blowing down the northern slopes of the Alps. It originates as moist air blowing from the Mediterranean, rising on reaching the Alps and cooling at the saturated adiabatic lapse rate, and descending on the leeward side, warming at the dry adiabatic lapse rate, thus gaining heat See also lapse rate

Word History and Origins

Origin of föhn¹

German, from Old High German phōnno , from Latin favōnius ; related to fovēre to warm

Example Sentences

This was followed by the strongest föhn storms in recent years, causing record temperatures in October 2018.

From The Guardian

A mild föhn wind has brought unseasonably high temperatures to lowland Switzerland, but areas above 1,400m altitude have seen more than a metre of snowfall in recent days, the Swiss broadcaster SRF said, tweeting pictures, with more forecast.

From The Guardian

We hop into the inflatable black Zodiacs and land half a dozen times, in the Falklands and South Georgia, but skip another three or four because of high seas, fog, or katabatic and föhn winds that whip up to hurricane force in a minute, knocking penguins hilariously over before receding just as quickly.

From Slate

Föhn clouds can pass quickly, and a shockingly abrupt window of sunlight can open for 20 seconds, then close for two hours.

From New York Times

And we got to see one of the Alps’ more curious meteorological phenomena: der Föhn.

From New York Times