foehn

American  

[feyn, fœn] / feɪn, fœn /

Or föhn

noun

1. a warm, dry wind descending a mountain, as on the north side of the Alps.

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foehn British  

/ fɜːn, føːn /

noun

1. meteorol a variant spelling of föhn

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foehn Scientific  

/ fœn,fān /

1. A warm, dry, and often strong wind coming off the lee slopes of a mountain range, especially off the northern slopes of the Alps. A foehn is a katabatic wind that warms as it descends because it has dropped its moisture before crossing the mountain range and is put under greater atmospheric pressure as it moves downward. Various local names are also used for foehns (such as chinook in the Rocky Mountain regions). A foehn can cause sudden and dramatic increases in the temperature—from 10° to 20°C (50° to 68°F) in a few minutes—which can cause snow to melt rapidly and even trigger flooding.

2. See also chinook

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Etymology

Origin of foehn

1860–65; < German Föhn (originally in Alpine dialects), Middle High German foenne, Old High German phōnno < Vulgar Latin *faōnius, for Latin Favōnius Favonius

Example Sentences

The addition of a foehn affect - a warming wind on the leeside of a mountian - meant that north-west Wales saw the highest temperatures.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

"The main cause for the record-breaking temperatures at this particular site was from a foehn wind," he says.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2020

Research increasingly suggests that foehn winds have a major effect on the ice shelf's melt rates in ways that could make it more prone to fracturing and potentially collapsing.

From Scientific American • Apr. 12, 2019

Glaciologist Peter Munneke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands is one of those scientists who suggest that foehn winds may happen more frequently in a warming world.

From Scientific American • Apr. 12, 2019

The windward slopes may be very rainy, while neighboring leeward slopes are parched by a dry foehn wind.

From Climatic Changes Their Nature and Causes by Huntington, Ellsworth