Traffic jam (meteorology)
As storage or wind surge in the will Meteorology forced upward movement of the wind in front of orographic called obstacles such as mountains and mountains when the wind strikes across the obstacle. The resulting increase in the air masses leads to adiabatic cooling and, if there is sufficient water vapor content, to the formation of damming clouds and possibly also to incline precipitation , which can last for a long time. Areas with frequent wind congestion, especially in front of long mountain ranges, are referred to as congestion areas. This creates the impression that the rain clouds are condensing and damming up on the mountains and sticking to them.
A congestion effect also occurs when the wind hits lower ranges of hills or from the open sea on a flat coast, since the lower layers of air are slowed down by soil friction, which forces subsequent air masses to rise. The damming effect can be noticeable horizontally up to a distance that corresponds to 50 times the height of the obstacle. In the vertical, the effective range can reach up to 10 to 20 times the height of the obstacle. On the north side of the Alps, the congestion often extends as far as the Danube in a north-westerly wind and is noticeable on the ground through reduced visibility.
In contrast to the stagnation on the windward side of mountains, sinking air masses on the lee side cause warming, and foehn can develop.
Individual evidence
- ↑ at.wetter.tv: traffic jam ( memento of the original from June 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b The Brockhaus. Weather and climate. Brockhaus, Leipzig / Mannheim 2009, ISBN 978-3-7653-3381-1 , p. 296
