Barrier winds along the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Abstract

Observational evidence from instrumented aircraft, Doppler radar and rawinsondes suggest low-level, mountain-parallel jets are a common wintertime feature along the W slope of the Sierra Nevada Range and extending into the California Valley. It is proposed that the formation and maintenance of the low-level jet is a result of the pressure field created by the damming of stable air as it is forced up against the steep mountain barrier.-from Author