[pct-l] katabatic air

[jjolson at uwyo.edu (Jeffrey J. Olson)]

If this has been better defined, sorry for the repeat.  I skim most 
posts...  Imagine a river of cold air originating over a snowfield or 
glacier moving ponderously down the outlet creek valley.  The river is 
anywhere from 10' to 30' deep.  It flows very slowly, less than a mile 
an hour in most cases.  It can be 10 degrees colder than the air just 
outside its flow.  The lesson - don't camp at the bottom of a defile or 
next to a creek. 

Jeff Olson
Laramie WY

Saskia Daru wrote:

>I read in an old Backpacker that there is a so-called cold zone, or
>katabatic zone. When camping, the article said, you should neither camp in
>the absolute bottom of a valley, nor at the top of a ridge. In the valley
>there is cold air that is somehow trapped and will keep cold throughout the
>night and the morning.
>
>At least, that's what I remember from the word katabatic (or is it
>catabatic?)
>
>Saskia
>  
>
>