View source for Mountain-plains wind systems



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== mountain&ndash;plains wind systems ==
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<div class="definition"><div class="short_definition">The [[diurnal]] cycle of [[local winds]] between a mountain or a mountain  range and the adjacent or surrounding plains during periods of weak [[synoptic]] flow.</div><br/> <div class="paragraph">Winds at lower elevations blow from the plains toward the mountains during daytime and from  the mountains toward the plains at night. An upper return branch of the [[circulation]] at higher  levels is sometimes present, blowing in the direction opposite the surface winds and completing  the circulation. The mountain-plains wind system is most apparent on individual days when skies  are [[clear]] and the general prevailing winds are weak, but it is also seen in climatological averages.  The term is usually used to represent the larger massif-scale circulations, of which the embedded  [[along-valley wind systems]] and [[along-slope wind systems]] are key components. On the smaller  mountain and mountain-range scale, the components of the diurnal cycle are a nocturnal mountain  ([[katabatic]]) wind and a daytime wind from the plains toward the mountains ([[anabatic wind]]).</div><br/> </div>
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