Blowing bubbles can easily give you a hint on the direction of the wind. Measuring the direction of winds is not hard, even for local winds. In the night we often see mountain breezes as winds travel from the mountains down towards the valleys. Thus, in the daytime we typically see valley breezes as winds blow from the valley up towards the mountains. Geographically, they can be divided in two broad categories - Warm and Cold winds. Valley breezes occur during the day and mountain. This type of wind pattern is known as a mountain breeze. The book I am primarily using does not mention anything about Mountain & Valley winds and I have searched the internet and the only thing closer to the Mountain and Valley Winds I could find were the Mountain and Valley Breezes, which I am assuming refer to the same phenomenon. Local winds affect smaller area but are very significant as they have huge influence over the local weather. The readings are recorded in inches of mercury (Hg), and they are converted to millibars (mb) when the data is recorded on maps and other records. Mountain and Valley Breezes occur when the slopes of the mountain and the valley heat up and cool off at different rates. Simple, the mercury is pushed up when air pressure increases. But traditionally, there is an instrument called a Barometer, which is made of mercury (a liquid metal) with some reading on it. These days, there is some cool technology that meteorologists use to measure air pressure, speeds, and direction. When the wind blows, the arm sways until the pointer faces the direction of the wind. It involves a pointer mounted on a vertical shaft. Wind measuring toolsĪnother instrument in wind measurement is the wind vane. The speed of the rotating cups is measured by a speedometer. They come in different models but use a similar principle - cups on a bar! It works like this: the faster the wind, the faster the cups rotate. Some winds also blow from the north, southwards, and from the south blowing northwards.Īnemometers measure the direction of winds. Some good examples of wind direction are the Easterly winds, which blow from east to west, and westerly winds that blow from west to east. They are measured by their directions and speeds.ĭepending on the cause of the winds, they can blow in many directions. It does not store any personal data.Winds come in all directions and speeds. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other. Large lakes can also have these circulations. It might be outdated or ideologically biased. The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). As the sun rises, the valley air warms rapidly and rises along the mountain slope to form the valley breeze.At night, the surface air quickly cools and slides down the mountain slope, forming the mountain breeze. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. o The land-sea breeze circulation doesnt have to occur by the ocean. A system of diurnal winds along the axis of a valley, blowing uphill and upvalley by day, and downhill and downvalley by night they prevail mostly in calm, clear weather. A similar pattern occurs along mountain slopes. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

This gentle upslope wind known as a valley breeze.

The warmer and less dense air near the ground rises during the day pulling more air through the valley floor. How do the valley breezes formed?ĭuring the day, sunlight warms the land and air in the Valley and along the slopes of the mountains. In Canada, the chinook belt lies almost exclusively within southern and central Alberta. The chinook, a native word meaning “snow eater,” belongs to a family of winds experienced in many parts of the world where long mountain chains lie more or less at right angles to the prevailing wind. How are sea and land breezes similar to mountain and valley breezes? Both types of breezes result from pressure differences caused by unequal heating of materials. Would there be winds if the Earth’s surface were the same temperature everywhere? In what ways are sea breezes and valley breezes similar to mountain and valley breezes?

Mountain and valley breeze