A hot wind is a meteorological phenomenon characterized by advection of air masses with anomalously high temperature and often low relative humidity, typically originating from subtropical or desert regions. It is driven by synoptic-scale pressure gradients and can be intensified by subsidence warming associated with high-pressure systems, foehn effects, or downslope flows that compress and heat air adiabatically. Hot winds significantly modify local energy balance, evapotranspiration rates, and boundary-layer stability, frequently contributing to heat waves, rapid desiccation of soils and vegetation, and enhanced wildfire risk. Their dynamics and thermodynamic structure are studied using mesoscale models, reanalysis data, and in situ observations of temperature, humidity, and wind fields.
Bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in southeast Australia on Friday, firefighters said, as hot winds fanned "hectic" conditions in the tinder-dry countryside.
Environment
Jan 8, 2026
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Spain and Portugal reported record temperatures Monday as Italy and France braced for several more days of a punishing heat wave that has gripped southern Europe and Britain, sparking health and wildfire warnings.
Environment
Jun 30, 2025
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27
In the hunt for exoplanets, many seek out habitable worlds. There's comfort in discovering planets that remind us of home—ones at a perfect distance from their host star, with oceans of water covering their surfaces and breathable ...
Planetary Sciences
May 29, 2025
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60
The planet WASP-121b is extreme. It's a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star–50 times closer than the Earth does around the sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 1, 2025
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