We study the boundary layer approximation of the, already classical, mathematical model which describes the discharge of a laminar hot gas in a stagnant colder atmosphere of the same gas. We start by proving the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the nondegenerate problem under assumptions implying that the temperature T and the horizontal velocity u of the gas are strictly positive: T ≥ δ > 0 and u ≥ ε > 0 (here δ and ε are given as boundary conditions in the external atmosphere)....