Chinook, warm temperatures expected in Calgary this weekend   

Sunday will be the warmest day with a forecast high of 13 C

Chinook winds often called chinooks, commonly refers to foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America.

Chinook is claimed by popular folk-etymology to mean "eater", but it is really the name of the people in the region where the usage was first derived. The reference to a wind or weather system, simply "a Chinook", originally meant a warming wind from the ocean into the interior regions of the Pacific Northwest of the USA (the Chinook people lived near the ocean, along the lower Columbia River). A strong Chinook can make snow one foot deep almost vanish in one day. The snow partly melts and partly evaporates in the dry wind. Chinook winds have been observed to raise winter temperature, often from below -20°C (-4°F) to as high as 10-20°C (50-68°F) for a few hours or days, then temperatures plummet to their base levels. The greatest recorded temperature change in 24 hours was caused by Chinook winds on January 15, 1972, in Loma, Montana; the temperature rose from -48 to 9°C (-54 to 48°F).

Where Chinooks Happen

Chinook Arch

Temperatures for the rest of the week and into the future are:

Please take note...ALL on the PLUS side of things!!!!

Sunday 13C  Monday 6C  Tuesday 7C  Wednesday 11C Thursday 13C 

I'll post more later today or tomorrow....I HAVE to get out there and enjoy some of these great temperatures.  Have a great day my friends....be safe and catch up with you soon!

Calgary, Alberta