1.   A few of the storms may contain gusty winds as momentum from fast winds aloft is mixed toward the ground by currents of sinking air within the storms.

2.   A nearly stationary high pressure area resulted in several days of steadily sinking air that made the Canadian air mass the warmest in all of North America.

3.   By day, currents of rising and sinking air, incited by solar heating, mix momentum from fast winds aloft with weaker surface winds.

4.   Desert climates result when large-scale wind patterns favor sinking air most of the time.

5.   Farther south, sinking air currents produced by high pressure centered over the interior West will promote ample sunshine from the Great Basin to most of the California coast.

6.   In addition, sinking air on the northwest flank of the low caused air over the panhandle to compress and warm further.

7.   Sinking air caused by a persistent area of high pressure aloft has contributed to the record heat by suppressing rising motions necessary to produce clouds and precipitation.

8.   Sinking air is the key, because air always dries and warms as it sinks, says meteorologist Tim McClung of the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles.

9.   Sinking air currents associated with the high will suppress cloud development, so that sunshine will prevail from the eastern slopes of the northern Rockies to the Southeastern states.

10.   Sinking air currents in the high are warmed and dried, suppressing clouds and encouraging heat.