Zonda

Zonda may refer to:

Zonda (horse)

Zonda (foaled 5 December 1994) is a retired New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby in 1997. His career faced unfortunate setbacks from injury. Despite this, many consider him one of New Zealand's top horses of the 1990s.

The son of Zabeel took three races to clear maidens, but followed that Paeroa win with four more wins in a row, including the Avondale Guineas, the Derby and a Group 2 victory at Moonee Valley in Melbourne.

He followed that Melbourne win up with a third-placing at Caulfield and second in the Cadbury Guineas, before finishing a disappointing fifth in the Rosehill Guineas. However, it became clear that he had suffered an injury in that race, and he wasn't seen again on the track for two and a half years.

Zonda returned to his very best to win the King's Plate and the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie Racecourse in successive starts. However, he suffered yet another injury not long afterwards and was off the scene for another year, and was only seen on the track on two more occasions in his career.

Zonda wind

Zonda wind (in Spanish, viento zonda) is a regional term for the foehn wind that often occurs on the eastern slope of the Andes, in Argentina. The Zonda is a dry wind (often carrying dust) which comes from the polar maritime air, warmed by descent from the crest, which is approximately 6,000 m (20,000 ft) above sea level. It may exceed a velocity of 40 km/h (25 mph).

While this type of föhn wind may occur over most central parts of western Argentina, its effects are more impressive in La Rioja, San Juan, and northern Mendoza provinces, where the mountain barrier (the Andes) is higher, while to the north the Puna plateau dissipates these winds.

The Zonda wind is produced by the northeastward movement of polar fronts, and although is hot and dry at the low-lands, it is the main mechanism for snow precipitation at the high altitude chains, where it looks as viento blanco, reaching speeds sometimes over 200 km/h. Thus, instead of being a snow-eater, this wind is particularly important for this arid region, as it is connected to the buildup of the winter snow cover and accumulation over the scarce local glaciers.