Chinook.
Chinook is an Indian word for a warm, dry winter
wind out of the Southwest and it's a phenomenon
of the Northern Rockies.
The greatest temperature change ever recorded in a 24 hour
period occurred as the result of a Chinook
and it was in Montana in 1972.
The temperature went from 56 degrees
below 0 to 49 degrees above 0.
In 24 hours, 105 degree temperature change.
So as rapidly as they appear, Chinooks disappear.
After a day or two of the warm wind, winter returns.
And I have to say one of the biggest stumbling
blocks to adjusting to living in Montana was
the climate, specifically the winter climate, which
is why I love being in Arizona for six months.
And hopefully, eventually a whole year.
"Chinook."
"Come January, let winter unweave
its wreath of departures.
The cold cup of morning emptied, a warm wind arrives at my door.
Each afternoon, sunlight work begins its solitary
melt through snow banks, pass the white steam
of the cove, a bevy of geese unlatches from the lake.
Give me the young stag mounting his mate,
the first crack of release in the ice-encrusted dawn.
Give me a warm wind stirring the soft beds of pine needles
and moss, a Chinook, waking the eagle
from his nest in the tall snag next to the dirt road.
He takes off to survey his kingdom,
where beneath the thick waves each fish stirs and rises
toward his urgent cry."