Local foehn effects in the upper Isar Valley, part 1: Observations

Summary

An unusually strong nocturnal downvalley wind can be regularly observed in the upper Isar Valley close to Mittenwald (Bavarian Alps) when a high-pressure system is located over Central Europe or when ambient southerly winds are present. Due to the structure of the local topography, this downvalley wind has foehn-like properties in the sense that the breakthrough of the flow into the valley is characterized by a strong increase in temperature and a decrease in relative humidity. Therefore the author called this flow “Minifoehn”. In fact, wind speeds are low in comparison to deep foehn, but gusts may reach values up to 20 ms⁻¹, even under the influence of high pressure systems with weak atmospheric pressure gradients. To investigate the Minifoehn, surface stations have been installed for collecting temperature, humidity, wind and pressure data. Measurements have shown that the Minifoehn represents the upper part of one of the drainage currents which flows over a mountain ridge into the valley at Mittenwald. Nocturnally cooled air drains from a plateau south of Mittenwald through different valleys which merge again near Mittenwald. It seems that the forcing of the nocturnal currents is dominated by the temperature difference between this plateau and the free atmosphere above Mittenwald at the same level. Strong temperature differences are found during clear winter nights and in case of subsidence inversions. Moreover, the appearance of the Minifoehn in autumn and winter is so frequent that we even may find a climatic effect: the upper Isar Valley is usually free of fog during these seasons and nocturnal temperatures are often considerably higher than in other Bavarian Alpine valleys at comparable altitude.