# Williwaw

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Sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea

This article is about the type of wind. For other uses, see [Williwaw (disambiguation)](/source/Williwaw_(disambiguation)).

In [meteorology](/source/Meteorology), a **williwaw** (archaic spelling **williwau**[1]) is a sudden blast of [wind](/source/Wind) descending from a mountainous coast to the sea. The word is of unknown origin, but was earliest used by British seamen in the 19th century. The usage appears for winds found in the [Strait of Magellan](/source/Strait_of_Magellan), the [Aleutian Islands](/source/Aleutian_Islands), and the coastal fjords of the Alaskan Panhandle, where the terms *outflow wind* and *[squamish wind](/source/Squamish_(wind))* are also used for the same phenomenon. On [Greenland](/source/Greenland) the word *[piteraq](/source/Piteraq)* is used.

The williwaw results from the descent of cold, dense air from coastal mountains in high latitudes. Thus the williwaw is considered a type of [katabatic wind](/source/Katabatic_wind).[2]

## In popular culture

- [Gore Vidal](/source/Gore_Vidal)'s first novel, *[Williwaw](/source/Williwaw_(1946_novel))* (1946), based on a ship in the Aleutian Islands, features the williwaw.

- In the *[Deadliest Catch](/source/Deadliest_Catch)* episode "Finish Line", the ship *Aleutian Ballad* crabbed within a williwaw, when a [rogue wave](/source/Rogue_wave) damaged the ship and knocked her on her side.

- The novel *[Williwaw!](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Williwaw!&action=edit&redlink=1)* by [Tom Bodett](/source/Tom_Bodett) is about two children who almost die in a williwaw.

- [W. Douglas Burden](/source/William_Douglas_Burden) mentions a williwaw in his *Look to the Wilderness*.[3]

- [Alan Dean Foster](/source/Alan_Dean_Foster) mentions a williwaw in his book *[Mad Amos](/source/Mad_Amos)*

- Television show *[Sergeant Preston of the Yukon](/source/Sergeant_Preston_of_the_Yukon_(TV_series))*, original air date December 12, 1956, “The Williwaw” - Sergeant Preston's sled gets destroyed in a terrible blizzard near a fishing lake so he seeks refuge in a nearby cabin not knowing the man inside is a killer.

- Episode of *[The Scooby-Doo Show](/source/The_Scooby-Doo_Show)* entitled "Watch Out! The Willawaw!"

- Glasgow based sound artist Williwaw performs a regular set at The Old Hairdressers bar in Glasgow.

- Sir Ernest Shackleton uses the term in "South", his account of the Trans-Antarctic traverse attempt in the Discovery, from 1914-17.

- A williwaw was partially responsible for the capsizing of the crab fishing vessel [FV *Scandies Rose*](/source/FV_Scandies_Rose).

## See also

- [Squamish (wind)](/source/Squamish_(wind))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Freaks of Weather"](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/deu_batman_ver01/data/sn84020422/00514156190/1903040801/0423.pdf) (PDF). The Smyrna Times. 8 April 1903. Retrieved 4 July 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Williwaw"](https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wind/The-Williwaw.htm). *WeatherOnline*. Retrieved 12 April 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Burden, W. Douglas (1956). *Look to the Wilderness*. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 18.

## External links

- **[^](#ref_wol-willi)** [*Mentions Williwaw as an Aleut Word*](https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Mile-War-Aleutians-Classic-Reprint/dp/0912006838/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341603836&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Thousand+Mile+War), from The Thousand Mile War

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