What is a west wind?

I have stricken a paradox, and maybe I'm just an idiot: The national weather service is calling for strong west winds out of this next storm, but they are saying snow accumulations will be in the greatest amounts on the west facing slopes. Does this mean the wind is blowing TOWARDS the west? This does not jive with my experience, so I was hoping someone could rectify the contraversy...

Thanks.

Winds are always reported in the direction of their origin. Snow gets deposited on the west slope because the slope forces the air moving from the west to the east upward, causing water vapor to cool and condense.

Max - Perhaps you're thinking of how wind will locally transport snow rather than the direction a weather system will hit an entire range?

A west wind would tend to scour a west facing slope and deposit snow to the east.

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/encycl...nd_loading.htm

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/encycl.../wind_slab.htm

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/encycl...ss_loading.htm

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Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Max - Perhaps you're thinking of how wind will locally transport snow rather than the direction a weather system will hit an entire range?

A west wind would tend to scour a west facing slope and deposit snow to the east.

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^^Right on. I'm no weather expert, so correct me if I am wrong. Big Picture: storms usually drop more snow on the upslope(windward) side of the mountains as the air cools and rises.(Think snowfall in western cascades v. eastern washington or even here in CO where the front range usually gets less snow than the mountains, barring any upslope effect). Small Picture/Locally: winds can transport snow and put more on the leeward side of ridges/mountains than on the windward

"And I just can't remember which way the East Wind blows..."


-Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs.

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Originally Posted by leroy jenkins

"And I just can't remember which way the East Wind blows..."


-Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs.

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Good album.

Thus was slain the Mishe-Mokwa,
He the Great Bear of the mountains,
He the terror of the nations.
"Honor be to Mudjekeewis!"
With a shout exclaimed the people,
"Honor be to Mudjekeewis!
Henceforth he shall be the West-Wind,
And hereafter and forever
Shall he hold supreme dominion
Over all the winds of heaven.
Call him no more Mudjekeewis,
Call him Kabeyun, the West-Wind!"

Thus was Mudjekeewis chosen
Father of the Winds of Heaven.
For himself he kept the West-Wind,
Gave the others to his children;
Unto Wabun gave the East-Wind,
Gave the South to Shawondasee,
And the North-Wind, wild and cruel,
To the fierce Kabibonokka.

-"Song of Hiawatha," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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Originally Posted by Deep Days

What is a west wind?

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When I point my ass East and fart.

Now all we need is a middle-brow comment, and I think we're set.