mono wind

/ˈmoʊnoʊ ˈwɪnd/

noun

A strong dry downslope wind that occurs along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California, a type of foehn that typically blows from the northeast.

Meanings

mono wind1

nounmono wind (plural mono winds)

plural mono winds

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Mono wind

    […]'mono' wind which is the northeast foehn wind occuring on the western slopes of the high Sierra Nevada. Two basic types of mono winds exist : one type is associated closely with the Great Basin surface high and the other with […]

    1985, Christopher John Breckenridge, Foehn Events Along the Transantarctic Mountains
    1 more example

    […](mono winds), which are winds of compressional heating from the east or northeast. Any start has major fire potential during these winds. The forest generally receives a winter-type storm in October, which reduces the fire danger[…]

    1986, Eldorado National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan: Draft Eldorado National Forest land and resource management plan. Environmental impact statement

Mono wind2

nounMono wind (plural Mono winds)

plural Mono winds

  1. A strong dry downslope wind that occurs along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California, a type of foehn that typically blows from the northeast.

    […]a "Mono Wind" blew a 40-inch thick, 193-foot tall ponderosa on top of him.

    2007, Michael Patrick Ghiglieri, Charles R. Farabee, Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite : Gripping Accounts of All Known Fatal Mishaps in America's First Protected Land of Scenic Wonders
    4 more examples

    […]Mono winds of central California, the northerly winds of the Sacramento Valley, and the East Winds of Washington and Oregon.

    1959, Kenneth Pickett Davis, Forest Fire: Control and Use, McGraw-Hill Companies

    […]Mono winds. Both winter storm and Mono winds were considered as causes of winter blowdown. All evidence, e.g., direction of tree-fall and occurrence of high wind events, point to Mono wind events as the cause of blowdown.

    1986, Michael A. Fosberg, Windthrown Trees on the Kings River Ranger District, Sierra National Forest: Meteorological Aspects

    […]a Mono wind from the east with low relative humidities (15 to 25%) sustained for several days.

    1995, James D. Sullivan, Jean Luc Wybo, Laurent Buisson, The International Emergency Management and Engineering Conference: Globalization of Emergency Management and Engineering : National and International Issues Concerning Research and Applications, May 9-12, 1995, Nice, France

    […]Mono Winds. Named after Mono Lake, the Mono Winds differed from the Diablo Winds, which plagued Northern California, and Southern California's infamous Santa Ana Winds, because they were fueled by cold, instead of warm, air[…]

    2021 April 27, Sean Lynch, Hold Back the Night, Pinnacle, →ISBN, page 26

Origin

So called because it blows near Mono Lake.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mono wind. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mono%20wind

MLA

“mono wind.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mono%20wind. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mono wind,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mono%20wind.

Source: mono wind on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.