The mountain wind of Pakistan

The mountain wind is a cold, high-density wind that blows from the mountain peaks towards the valleys, making the nights at the valley stations quite cool.

The phenomenon:

The sky on the mountains is usually very clear and because of this clear atmosphere, the mountains cool down very quickly because the heat is radiated very quickly into the atmosphere. The result is that the mountain slopes are much cooler than the surrounding air. The air in contact with the slopes also gets cooler. On cooling, it becomes dense and heavy because the density is inversely proportional to the temperature. If this had been a shallow area, this cool, dense wind would have plummeted until morning, but as in our case, it is a mountain slope, so it slides down the river under the influence of gravity, mountain slopes towards the deep valley under and forcing the temperature there to get pretty cool. The wind speed depends on the slope of the slope and the temperature in the source area. It is usually in the range of 5-10 knots. Since it falls from the mountain in the direction of the valley, it is also called Fallwind. Another name for this wind is katabatic wind.

Requirement:

Clear skies without clouds, little or no wind on the summit and low relative humidity are the main requirements for the mountain or fall wind. Clouds and rain etc. disturb this phenomenon considerably.

The Effect and the case of Gilgit:

The station of Gilgit is a low valley located about 4500 feet above mean sea level in northern Pakistan. It is surrounded by very high mountains with heights of 15000 feet or more. The area is generally dry with very little rainfall. The sky over the mountains remains clear, especially in the summer months of July and August, when the relative humidity is very low. This makes this station the ideal case for the mountain wind to be effective.

From late July to early August, Gilgit gets extremely hot during the day outside the monsoon, the air is dry, so it gets hot quickly and can reach 110 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. However, the surrounding peaks remain cooler throughout the day , Due to the clear mountain atmosphere, the temperatures drop rapidly during the night and reach about 50 ° F. As described above, the air on the slopes becomes very cool and begins to glide towards the Gilgit Valley.

It works best just before sunrise The minimum temperature of Gilgit can be reduced to 60 F. The temperature of Gilgit drops from 110 F to 60 F - a drop of 50 F in 24 hours! This is all due to the katabatic wind. This typically happens from late July to mid-August. If we closely observe the climate of Gilgit, the moment when western riots with clouds, rain and strong winds arrive in this area will be 95 F and 75 F low, which is a clear indication of the mountain wind effect is disturbed.

In short, mountain or katabatic wind is a cool, dense wind that can dramatically change the temperature of the affected area.

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