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In meteorology, a williwaw is a sudden blast of wind 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, 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 the word ''piteraq'' is used. The williwaw results from the descent of cold, dense air from the snow and ice fields of coastal mountains in high latitudes, accelerated by the force of gravity. Thus the williwaw is considered a type of katabatic wind. ==In popular culture== *Gore Vidal's first novel, ''Williwaw'' (1946), based on a ship in the Aleutian Islands, features the williwaw. *In the ''Deadliest Catch'' episode "Finish Line", the ship ''Aleutian Ballad'' crabbed within a williwaw, when a rogue wave damaged the ship and knocked her on her side. *The novel ''Williwaw!'' by Tom Bodett is about two children who almost die in a williwaw. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Williwaw」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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