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The name Chinook is used for a warm wind blowing onto Washington and
Oregon bringing below freezing temperatures up to shirtsleeve type
weather. This warm wind is the stuff of legends in this area. It has saved
lives, and determines which plants can survive in this area. Only plants
that can support freezing and thawing over many times in a winter can
survive here. Indian tribes might make an tribal member rich or give them
large powers as medicine men if one could predict when the next Chinook
would come and ease the cold and pain of the tribe and melt the snow. You
know it is a Chinook if you wake and all the deep snow is all gone
overnight. It brings an ecstasy to walk at night in a Chinook in winter
and feel its warmth calmly surrounding you. Temperature is usually 40 to
50 degrees since winter ocean temperature is about 50 degrees and that is
the source of the wind. |
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