A squamish (also known as an Arctic outflow wind in winter months) is a strong and often violent

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

occurring in many of the fjords, inlets and valleys of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Squamishes occur in those fjords oriented in a northeast–southwest or east–west direction where cold polar air can be funneled westward, the opposite of how the wind generally flows on the Coast. These winds in winter can create high windchills by coastal standards of . They are notable in Jervis, Toba, and Bute Inlets and in

Dean Channel Dean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast, from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains, enters Dean Channel about below the head ...

and the Portland Canal. Squamishes lose their strength when free of the confining fjords and are not noticeable more than 25 km offshore. In Northern Washington including Lynden and Bellingham, and

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

, including Eastern Vancouver Island, of

, they are mainly referred to as outflow winds, they are noticeable especially in the winter, when a cold Arctic air mass holding in the high plateau country of the interior flows down to the sea through the canyons and lower passes piercing the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

and crossing the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

. The town of

Squamish, British Columbia Squamish (; Squamish language, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, ; 2016 census population 19,512) is a community and a district municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, located at th ...

, is named for the wind, and upper Howe Sound, just off the Squamish River

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, is known widely in the

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and kiteboarding worlds for its excellent, steady winds. During the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

season of 1996, a major blizzard which brought record snowfalls to the Lower Mainland and Eastern Vancouver Island was followed up by hurricane-force winds pouring west through the towns of the Fraser Valley, as the coastal system's strength – which had brought the snow – was forced back by the breaking of the interior's cold air mass. Intense outflow winds are relatively common year-round (during stormy weather, and sometimes fair) in the Upper Fraser Valley, particularly on

Sumas Prairie Sumas Prairie is a landform in British Columbia, Canada and the State of Washington, United States. Part of the Fraser Lowland, it was created by the draining of Sumas Lake early in the 20th Century, and extends from the Vedder Canal southwestwar ...

between Abbotsford and Chilliwack, and farther upriver towards the mouth of the Fraser Canyon. Known by different names in each region up the

Coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

, outflow winds or squamishes are also major maritime threats off the openings of the major fjords and up their narrow, deep lengths. Queen Charlotte Strait in particular is known for heavy winds coming out of the mouth of Knight Inlet, at the upper east end of the strait.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squamish (Wind) Winds British Columbia

See also

References