The Fhn Wind Natures Hairdryer

Introduction The weather experienced by people across the world is usually driven by large-scale events weather systems such as hurricanes, high-pressure systems, and cold and warm fronts. Even those events that seem relatively localised (such as heavy showers) can often affect large areas (as a thunderstorm tracks across a city or a state), and are typically driven by larger-scale weather systems (such as a trough of low atmospheric pressure). However, some weather events are truly localised, and are influenced as much by the local environment as by the larger scale systems that drive the bulk of weather. One such weather event is the unseasonably hot, dry wind that sometimes blows on the leeward side of hills or mountain ranges. Such Fhn winds can cause cities just a few miles apart to experience temperatures that differ by more than ten degree Celsius, and can even result in the winter temperature in the north of Scotland reaching 15 degrees Celsius when the Sun never gets above 10 degrees from the horizon1. Not only do they cause unseasonably warm and dry weather, but some people have also reported that they experience migraines on days when the Fhn wind is blowing2. Fhn winds were a noticeable feature in both my childhood, growing up in Yorkshire (sometimes resulting in days of warm, dry weather in the middle of winter. In Leeds, the average day-time high in February is just 5.9 degrees Celsius3 - but there were a number of occasions during my youth when the temperature spiked to 15 or 16 degrees as a result of a Fhn wind, blowing over the Pennines. Whilst I lived in the capital of Switzerland, Bern, Fhn winds blowing over the alps were often responsible for warm, blustery, and very dry days as winter turned to spring. The greatest ever 24 hour temperature change recorded was a result of a Fhn wind (known as a Chinook wind in the US), which caused the temperature in Loma, Montana to increase by an astonishing 57 degrees Celsius in one day, on 15th January, 1972!4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "!#$$%&''()*+,-,%(.,/*012'+,-,'34,5/$(6076$#(68),$(.69,)2.05! :!;#,$<=>!?*>!%1,@/$(!A055B),A/$,0)!+,$#!$#(!/B$#01>!C+,$D(14/).>!:EEF! G!#$$%&''()*+,-,%(.,/*012'+,-,'H((.IJ34,5/$(! K!#$$%I&''()*+,-,%(.,/*012'+,-,'3#,)00-6+,).!

But what causes these unusual dry winds? Why are they so localised? In this project, I will examine the origin of these remarkable weather events, and carry out an experiment to illustrate the physics behind Natures Hairdryer. The Physics of Fhn winds Fhn winds are the direct result of the laws of thermodynamics. In order for a Fhn wind to occur, a number of factors must come together. Firstly, you need a range of hills, or mountains. A mild (or warm) and moist air mass blows against the windward side of the hills, and is force to rise as it encounters the mountains. As the air rises, it expands and cools. Eventually, the air cools enough that the water vapour it holds begins to condense out to form clouds. This condensation process releases a large amount of energy to the air (the latent heat of vapourisation), which slows the rate at which the air cools as it rises. Eventually, enough water has condensed from the chilled rising air that rain begins to fall, removing the water from the air, causing a wet and rainy day in the mountains. Once the air has passed over the mountains, it falls once again, blowing down the leeward side of the hills. As the air sinks, it contracts, and in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics, it warms up. Any remaining water droplets evaporate (are vapourised), which slowly the warming process slightly but because a significant fraction of the original water content has been removed as rain (or snow, in winter months), there is less to slow the increase in the temperature, and so the air warms more rapidly than it cools. The higher the hills, and the greater the distance that the air has risen then falls, the greater the resulting temperature change. The end result is that cities to the leeward side of the mountains are buffeted by an unusually warm and relatively dry wind, and are treated to a pleasant day, while those cities on the other side of the hills (often just a few kilometres distant) are cold and wet. Lets imagine a single parcel of air falling from a great height. The packet falls so quickly that it does not exchange heat with its environment, but it is compressed as it reaches

lower altitudes a process called adiabatic5 compression. For such a process, mathematically, we can say

TV " #1 = c

Equation 1.

where T is the temperature (in Kelvin), V is the volume (in metres cubed) and c is a ! constant. In other words, the volume of the air is inversely proportional to the temperature. So as the air is compressed, and the volume gets smaller, the temperature must rise as a result. An experimental test of!Fhn winds This experiment has two parts. The first involves taking warm, moist air, and watching it rise until water condenses. The second involves taking cool, dry air, and compressing it, and seeing whether the temperature increases. Equipment needed: Part I: A kettle (to produce warm, moist air, in the form of steam), and a relatively air-tight room (e.g. a bathroom). 2 hygrometers and 2 thermometers. Part II: A bicycle pump to draw in cool air and compress it as it is expelled. For the first part of the experiment, I will fill my kettle, and take it into my bathroom. I will plug it into the wall socket, and boil the kettle, holding the button down until a large quantity of water has boiled, and watch what happens to the steam produced. If my theory is correct, the hot air, saturated with water, will rise to the ceiling, and water will begin to condense from it, causing a mist that gradually lowers from the ceiling as ever more warm moist air is pumped into the room by the kettle. I will place one hygrometer and one thermometer near the ceiling, and the others near the floor, and will measure the

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initial and final temperatures and humidities at each location. I will repeat this three times. For the second part of my experiment, I will draw cool air into the bicycle pump, then allow the pump and air inside to reach room temperature. I will then block the end of the pump with my finger, and compress it as quickly as I can (to prevent the air inside from having time to transfer heat through the walls of the pump to the air outside). Once the pump is compressed, I will point the nozzle to my face, and release my finger, to feel the (theoretically noticeably warmer) air blow across my face in a simulated Fhn wind. Risk Assessment Boiling water is a dangerous liquid. I will make sure the kettle is balanced securely, so that it does not fall over and spill boiling liquid on me. I will also ensure that the kettle does not fall into the bath or the sink both of which will be empty of water when I do the experiment, in order to ensure that I am not electrocuted. A bicycle pump is a fairly well tested piece of apparatus. However, there is always a risk that the pump may be fault, and that the pressure contained within my cause structural failure. To minimise the risk from this, I will borrow some ski goggles from my friend, and wear them while carrying out the experiment, in order to avoid eye damage in the case of explosive decompression. Results Experiment 1 Before Boil T (floor) C T (ceiling) C RH (floor) % RH (ceiling) % 23 24 72 70 1st Boil 24 29 71 97 2nd Boil 25 31 71 98 3rd Boil 25 33 72 96 Average 24.70.5 312 71.30.5 971

Table 1: The results of my first experiment. Results Experiment 2

When the compressed air blew out of the bicycle pump it was noticeably warmer than the ambient room temperature, although I would not recommend using a bike pump to dry your hair!

Analysis It was readily apparent that the moist air rising from my kettle condensed as it approached the ceiling, causing a noticeable (albeit relatively faint) mist to form near the ceiling. I let the room clear for a few minutes between trials, and the result was clearly repeatable. This mist is borne out by the relative humidities I measured, which approached 100% in the misty layer, but remained far lower near the ground. This illustrates how rising air can drive the condensation of water. Unfortunately, the temperature of the air also increased compared to the floor as a result of the introduction of very warm air from the kettle, a result which was not initially expected, but should have been anticipated. Furthermore, the temperature at the ceiling was higher for each successive experiment, which suggests that I did not allow sufficient time for the room to cool between trials. The second part of the experiment was more successful. Compressing the air caused it to warm appreciably, resulting in a warm breeze blowing across my face. Unfortunately, a lack of suitable equipment prevented me from carrying out a detailed analysis of the change in volume compared to the change in temperature. If I could obtain a suitable temperature sensor to place inside the bike pump, it would be possible to carry out a very detailed series of measurements showing how temperature varied with volume, but unfortunately, I was unable to obtain such a sensor for this project.

Conclusions Fhn winds are an important feature of the day-to-day weather of cities around the world that are located near mountain ranges or hills. These winds, which occur as a result of moist, warm air being forced to rise on the windward side of the hills, losing moisture by precipitation, and then warming further as they descend on the leeside of the hill, have

been responsible for the worlds most extreme daily temperature changes, and a responsible for unseasonable warmth, sudden snow melts, and migraines across the world. The science behind Fhn winds is actually remarkably simple being just an application of the laws of thermodynamics. As mild, moist air is forced upward by being blown into a hillside, it rises, expands, and therefore cools. As it cools, the water it carries eventually condenses out to form clouds, releasing a large amount of heat due to the latent heat of condensation. The water in the clouds then falls (as rain, sleet, or snow), drenching the landscape below, and being removed from the air, which is still flowing over the mountains. Once the air reaches the far side of the hills, it begins to fall, descending rapidly, and being compressed as it does so. As a result, the air warms. Because its water content is now much lower, the resulting wind is very dry, and the lack of water to revapourise means that the heat released by the condensation that produced the rain remains in the air, bringing an unusual warmth to the lee side of the hills. In this experiment, I demonstrated how warm moist air cools as it rises, with the water held condensing to form clouds. Despite flaws in the experimental method (such as my failure to allow the room to re-equilibrate between trials, and the extra heat introduced to the room by the kettle itself), this was a successful demonstration of the way that rising moist air packets become clouds when they expand and cool. I also showed how rapidly decreasing the volume of a packet of air causes it to heat up. Although the breeze from the bike pump was warm, and doubtless of lower humidity than the air sucked into the pump, I did not experience a migraine, and so am unable to comment on the reports that Fhn winds can trigger such painful episodes. Despite this, I consider that my experiment was a great success. In the future, were I to repeat this experiment, I would attempt to obtain a temperature sensor that could be placed inside my bike pump, so that I could measure how the temperature therein varies as a function of the compression placed on the air. This would allow me to plot the temperature against the volume, and therefore determine the constant of proportionality visible in equation 1.

Taken together, the results of my two experiments show the magic, and the science, behind Fhn winds, and reveal how thermodynamics can be fun!