Chinook weather. I watched a Doc on Alta's Chinooks called "The Snow-Eater", a name given to the phenomena by natives. Chinook winds carry such power that wind turbines have to be shut down and dust storms can close down highways for a time. Time-lapse photography was used, which graphically illustrated why 'snow-eater' is such an apt name. In less than a two hour period all the snow in a meadow, which looked to be about two feet deep, simply melted away. Chinooks even have their own particular cloud formation too, though I cannot remember the name given to it.
Quite true it being named snow eater but thats mostly at the edge of the rockys,in the mountains it usually means big snow dump but in rare cases it can rain.The clouds are awesome but I think your thinking of the chinook arch.
I live right in the chinook belt and one of the windiest parts of the country.
The wind turbines allways shut down when the wind hits a certain speed as a safety precaution.