Glacier wind

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glacier wind[edit | edit source]

(Or glacier breeze.) A shallow gravity wind, along the icy surface of a glacier, caused by the temperature difference between the air in contact with the glacier and free air at the same altitude.

The glacier wind does not reverse itself diurnally as do mountain and valley winds, but it reaches its maximum intensity in the early afternoon. The glacier wind is characterized by strongly turbulent flow.
See katabatic wind.

Defant, F. 1951. Compendium of Meteorology. p. 663.


  1. In general, a light wind.
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