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

See Examples For:

katabatic

The vast Himalayan glaciers cool enormous air masses that slide downslope under gravity, creating what scientists call katabatic winds.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2025

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