Fohn Wind Effect

A föhn or foehn is a type of dry, warm, down-slope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind
side) of a mountain range.

Fohn effect

When air passes over mountains, the valleys on the downwind side (or 'lee' side) commonly
experience strong and gusty downslope winds accompanied by abrupt warming and drying.
These are known as Fohn winds, and their warming and drying effect - the Fohn effect - can
be striking and far-reaching.
It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has
dropped most of its moisture on windward slopes. As a consequence of the different adiabatic
lapse rates of moist and dry air, the air on the leeward slopes becomes warmer than
equivalent elevations on the windward slopes. Föhn winds can raise temperatures by as much
as 14 °C (25 °F) in just a matter of minutes.

In some regions, föhn winds are associated with causing "circulatory problems", headaches,
or similar ailments. Researchers have found, however, the foehn wind's warm temperature to
be beneficial to humans in most situations, and have theorised that the reported negative
effects may be a result of secondary factors, such as changes in the electrical field or in the
ion state of the atmosphere, the wind's relatively low humidity, or the generally unpleasant
sensation of being in an environment with strong and gusty winds.

How does the Fohn affect work?

Explanations of the Fohn effect in popular literature or on the web often single out just one
causal mechanism (#1 in the below), but there are in fact four known causes. These
mechanisms often act together, with their contributions varying depending on the size and
shape of the mountain barrier and on the meteorological conditions, for example, the
upstream wind speed, temperature and humidity. There are four mechanisms which combine
to create the Fohn effect:

1) Condensation and precipitation: When air is forced upwards over elevated terrain, it
expands and cools due to the decrease in pressure with height. Since colder air can hold less
water vapour, moisture condenses to form clouds and precipitates as rain or snow above the

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mountain's upwind slopes. The change of state from vapour to liquid water is accompanied
by heating, and the subsequent removal of moisture as precipitation renders this heat gain
irreversible, leading to the warm, dry foehn conditions in the mountain's lee. This mechanism
has become a popular textbook example of atmospheric thermodynamics and it lends itself to
attractive diagrams. However the common occurrence of 'dry' foehn events, where there is no
precipitation, implies there must be other mechanisms.

2) Isentropic draw-down (the draw-down of warmer, drier air from aloft): When the
approaching winds are insufficiently strong to propel the low-level air up and over the
mountain barrier, the airflow is said to be 'blocked' by the mountain and only air higher up
near mountain-top level is able to pass over and down the lee slopes as foehn winds. These
higher source regions provide foehn air that becomes warmer and drier on the leeside after it
is compressed with descent due to the increase in pressure towards the surface.

3) Mechanical mixing: When river water passes over rocks, turbulence is generated in the
form of rapids, and white water reveals the turbulent mixing of the water with the air above.
Similarly, as air passes over mountains, turbulence occurs and the atmosphere is mixed in the
vertical. This mixing generally leads to a downward warming and upward moistening of the
cross-mountain airflow, and consequently to warmer, drier foehn winds in the valleys
downwind.

4) Radiative warming: Dry foehn conditions are responsible for the occurrence of rain
shadows in the lee of mountains, where clear, sunny conditions prevail. This often leads to
greater daytime radiative (solar) warming under foehn conditions. This type of warming is
particularly important in cold regions where snow or ice melt is a concern and/or avalanches
are a risk

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