katabatic wind

plural katabatic winds

1. climatologyA drainage wind or a fall wind: a wind, such as the bora or Bohemian wind, which moves high density air from a higher elevation down an incline, due to the force of gravity.

   Penguin colonies that number in millions; nights that run into days, and days that run into nights; katabatic winds that scream down the ice sheets at a terrifying 180 miles per hour, and then remain equally terrifyingly still.

   2006 February 24, Tishani Doshi, “Meanwhile: The long view from Antarctica”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2023