Chinook wind
![Adiabatic warming of downward moving air produces the warm Chinook wind](/Images/godic/202501/04/Chinook_wind4043.jpg")
![Where Chinooks occur most frequently](/Images/godic/202501/04/Alberta-chinook4043.png")
![Chinook arch in southern Alberta](/Images/godic/202501/04/Chinook-arch-Claresholm4043.JPG")
![The signature Chinook arch over a Denver suburb in 2006](/Images/godic/202501/04/Chinookarch_denver4043.jpg")
Chinook winds /ʃɪˈnʊk/, or simply chinooks, are foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest.