Where in the US is there a warm wind called the Chinook?

Answer 1

The Chinook (and its cousins the alpine European "der Föhn" and the Föhn in Wollongong and South Coast, NSW Australia) is a strong, warm dry wind that blows east from the Rocky Mountains into southern Alberta and the American states just south of the Province. The wind can raise the temperature of the prairies from a winter low of -35C to 0C or higher in a matter of hours. Cowboy legends tell of horses and sleighs running before an oncoming Chinook with the front of the runners in a yard of snow and the back ends kicking up the dust of the bare road, and of ranchers hitching their horses to a post sticking out of the snow and coming back after an hour of Chinook winds to find the poor critter dangling from the cross on top of the local church.

The coming of a Chinook is usually marked by a band of clear sky to the West (over the mountains) and clouds overhead. This is the Chinook Arch. Like "der Föhn" the Chinook is said to kick up headaches, Arthritis flare ups, mood swings, and troubles in the kitchen from baking which mysteriously fails to raise. Many local residents claim to predict coming Chinooks by these signs (or at least blame their pain, bad tempers, and flat cakes on the Chinook.)

The rapid temperature changes impact plants by alternately freezing and thawing tree trunks, drying the soil. Gardening books like "Gardening under the Arch" are popular in areas affected by Chinooks.

Answer 2

The Chinook (and its cousins the alpine European "der F