Piteraq
Encyclopedia
A Piteraq is a cold Katabatic wind
which originates on the Greenlandic
icecap and sweeps down to the east coast. Piteraqs are most common in the fall and winter. Wind speeds typically reach 50 to 80 m/s. On February 6, 1970 the community Tasiilaq
was hit by very strong Piteraq causing severe damage. Since the beginning of the 1970 special Piteraq warnings are issued by the Danish Meteorological Institute
.
Katabatic wind
A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning "going downhill", is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometimes also called fall winds...
which originates on the Greenlandic
Greenlandic
Greenlandic may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Greenland, the self-governing Danish province located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago....
icecap and sweeps down to the east coast. Piteraqs are most common in the fall and winter. Wind speeds typically reach 50 to 80 m/s. On February 6, 1970 the community Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...
was hit by very strong Piteraq causing severe damage. Since the beginning of the 1970 special Piteraq warnings are issued by the Danish Meteorological Institute
Danish Meteorological Institute
The Danish Meteorological Institute is the official Danish meteorological institute, administrated by the Ministry of Transport and Energy. The institute makes weather forecasts and observations for Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands....
.