The Foehn and the wood shingle…

Recently, I was reminded by one of my good french friends of the powerful effect Foehn wind can have on snow in terms of melting it blindly fast. There’s a tale in the northern French Alps where I’m from, used to illustrate the power of sublimation as a “snow-eater” as some say. 

Again, sublimation is the passage from a solid state (snow) to a gaseous one (water vapor) and is caused by a dry and warm wind called Foehn in the Alps. 

This phenomenon is observed all over the world, from Mexico with the Chanduy, the Chinook in the US and Canada, Puelche in Chile, Zonda in Argentina or Nor'wester in New Zealand’s South Island. In Europe there are other names for Foehn, like Halny in Poland and Slovakia, to name just one…

But, let’s going back to the tale of the Foehn and the wood shingle, it worked like that: A wooden shake shingle about 10 inches in length would be planted in the snow in the morning and by the end of the day would simply fall as all the surrounding snow had melted. 

A good visual example used to illustrate the power of Foehn weather. It is for sure striking, maybe a bit far-fetched, but when all is said and done aren’t all strong and lasting examples made of hyperbole?