Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 municipal census. Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to the city's warm summers, mild winters, and windy climate. Lethbridge lies southeast of Calgary on the Oldman River.
Downtown Lethbridge on 4th Avenue South
Round Street in 1911
Downtown Lethbridge in 1911
Lethbridge seen from Halmrast Manor
Chinook winds, or simply Chinooks, are two types of prevailing warm, generally westerly winds in western North America: Coastal Chinooks and interior Chinooks. The coastal Chinooks are persistent seasonal, wet, southwesterly winds blowing in from the ocean. The interior Chinooks are occasional warm, dry föhn winds blowing down the eastern sides of interior mountain ranges. The coastal Chinooks were the original term, used along the northwest coast, and the term in the interior of North America is later and derives from the coastal term.Along the Pacific Northwest coast, where the name is pronounced ('chin'+'uk'), the name refers to wet, warm winds off the ocean from the southwest; this is the original use of the term. The coastal Chinook winds deliver tremendous amounts of moisture both as rain along the coast and snow in the coastal mountains, that sustain the characteristic temperate rainforests and climate of the Pacific Northwest.
Adiabatic warming of downward moving air; this produces the warm föhn wind called a "Chinook" (pronounced shin‑uk) in interior North America.
Chinook arch over Calgary, 6 January 2003
The extreme colors of a Chinook arch
Chinook arch in Calgary, Alberta, 19 November 2005