In meteorology

Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...

, a williwaw is a sudden blast of wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

 descending from a mountainous coast to the sea. The word is of unknown origin, but was earliest used by British seamen in the 19th century. The usage appears for winds found in the Strait of Magellan

Strait of Magellan

The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...

, the Aleutian Islands and the coastal fjords of the Alaskan Panhandle, where the terms outflow wind and squamish wind are also used for the same phenomenon. On Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

 the word piteraq

Piteraq

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...

is used.

The williwaw results from the descent of cold, dense air from the snow and ice field

Ice field

An ice field is an area less than 50,000 km² of ice often found in the colder climates and higher altitudes of the world where there is sufficient precipitation. It is an extensive area of interconnected valley glaciers from which the higher peaks rise as nunataks...

s of coastal mountains in high latitudes, accelerated by the force of gravity. Thus the williwaw is considered a type of katabatic wind

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...

.

In popular culture

Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...

's first novel, Williwaw, based on a ship in the Aleutian Islands, features the williwaw.

In the Deadliest Catch

Deadliest Catch

Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...

episode "Finish Line", the ship Aleutian Ballad is struck by a williwaw, which damages the ship and knocks her on her side.

The novel Williwaw! by Tom Bodett

Tom Bodett

Thomas Edward "Tom" Bodett is an American author, voice actor and radio host. He is also the current spokesman for the hotel chain Motel 6, whose commercials end with the phrase, "I'm Tom Bodett for Motel 6, and we'll leave the light on for ya."-Career:...

is about two children who almost die in a williwaw.