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I'm not sure where you're located or what you know about the history of the Pacific Northwest, or how much of the particular special lexicon around here you  may be aware of.  But let me tell you this, really loud and clear -= a certain warm wet southwesterly, typically days in duration, is called a Chinook by fishermen, sailors, ferry crews, loggers and yes the weathermen, who use the term as part of the loca argot in the same way they commonly use ""out on the chuck"" meaning ""out on the water"" (and that's not in Canadian meteorologic usages either).  The media in this case are not incorrect, but rather using the existing local tgerminology, often kinda proudly (as also with the saltchuck/chuck references); it's not the first time that standard Canadian usages are completely clueless or heedless of British Columbian usage.  It may not in fact be the same wind, there being in the old days no way to call what is now Alberta and let 'em know the tropical air mass was on its way over; all I know is the term IS part of the marine and weather lexicons in BCand, at least, in Whatcom County (where KVOS-TV 12 is, one of the stations who use the term).  As fort the directional thing, it's pretty clear with the Prairie version of the wind that the direction ""from the country ofthe Chinooks"" IS the origin, especially when you consdier that the fur traders' HQ on the Pacific Slope was in Chinook territory (Fort Vancouver).  The directional thing on the coast is clear if you've ever seen a satellite video of a Chinook, which looks like a big thick band of white cloud streaming in from the general direction of Hawaii, but more specifically SSW even SSWxS, pretty much in a line over the Olympic Peninsula, Greater Victoria, andheadingto into Greater Vancouver from the direction of Tsawswassen, which incientally if you draw back in scale you can see is also roughly the direction of the mouth of hte Coluymbia, i.e. the coujntry of the Chinooks.  But compass-exact directions aren't hte issue, nautical ones are.  And it so happens that Chinooks arriving in Nuu-chahb-nuolth teritory would be coming from the southwest, i.e. around C ape Flattery, but nobody in those days was splitting hairs like you are; they came to use the term Chinook to mean a warm wet wind from that general direction.  The same as Squamish (wind) means a cold, harsh northerly outflow wind, which in the Georgai Strait/nortthern Puget Sound happens to be from the north and the direction of the country of the Skxwu7mesh people at what is now the town of Squamish.  Anyway, aside from all that, I've vgot requests in to Gobal, CBCand other weriters I know of hoping for a proper cite or at least a news item from the vancouver sun.  I don't care about your objections, you're just plain wrong.  And if Canadian meteorologic usage hasnt' included this term, it's their fault, not those of the BC broadcasters who still use it (""still"" because it dates back to the old days); it's nopt the first time that Canadian publications of any kiknd have omitted BC  perspectives or simply gotten things all wrong.  And if you ask a Chinook person, you'll find out that the correct pronunciation of the original word IS ""Tshinuk""; the Albertan prononciation is a frenchified affectation..  "