The air over the hill top is now warmer than the air at a similar altitude around it and will rise through convection. This creates a lower pressure region into which the air at the bottom of the slope flows, causing the wind. It is common for the air rising from the tops of large mountains to reach a height where it cools adiabatically to below its dew point and forms cumulus clouds. These can then produce rain or even thunderstorms.
Anabatic winds are particularly useful to soaring glider pilots who can use them to increase the aircraft's altitude, though detrimental to the maximum downhill speed of cyclists.
Katabatic winds are down-slope winds, frequently produced at night by the opposite effect, the air near to the ground losing heat to it faster than air at a similar altitude over adjacent low-lying land.
Notes & references
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Last updated on Saturday October 04, 2008 at 17:16:58 PDT (GMT -0700)
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