{Show & Tell} Chinook Arch

I am finally back in the blog-world, and I'm almost caught up in reading all the blogs that I've missed the last three or wo weeks!  I thought that probably Show & Tell with Mary aka CanadaGirl would be a good time to get back to blogging.  I picked something to share that I already have loaded to photobucket, as I expect it will take something like three years three weeks to upload ALL my pictures... oh the joy of dial-up.  *sigh*

 

I have been away from the blogosphere because my family spent just over two weeks in Alberta, Canada, celebrating Christmas (early) with my parents and other family.  We haven't been home for a visit in seven years, so much had changed.  The first weekend we were there, my dad came in one morning and let us know that if we wanted to see a great chinook arch, that we should go out and have a look.  I wish that I'd been able to drive out of town and get an open prairie view to take the pictures, but I thought this turned out well - so clear!!!!

 

 

For anyone that doesn't know what a chinook is, you can find out more here. 

Chinook winds, often just called chinooks, are Fohn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges.  Northeast of the mountains, it is warm and dry, after being stripped of its moisture by the mountains in its path.  A popular myth is that Chinook means "snow eater", as a strong Chinook can make snow one foot deep almost vanish in one day. The snow partly melts and partly evaporates in the dry wind. Chinook winds have been observed to raise winter temperature, often from below −20°C (−4°F) to as high as 10°C to 20°C (50°F to 68°F) for a few hours or days, then temperatures plummet to their base levels.  Chinooks are most prevalent over southern Alberta in Canada, especially in a belt from Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass through Lethbridge, which get 30 to 35 chinook days per year on average.

 

The picture was taken from the city of Airdrie where my parents and sister now live.  I am from Calgary so chinooks are a big part of my memories of home.

 

Head over to CanadaGirl's blog and check out other Show & Tells, or participate with your own.