New weather note on wind and wind power

[Brian Ellis]

I have just published a major new weather note entitled Wind and wind power. This is aimed at those who want to know something a little more than sticking a wet thumb in the air. I have tried to make it as low-tech as possible, while explaining why winds blow, the different kinds of wind, defining the variables of wind and how the wind is used to generate electricity, with a section on why the power may be less than is predicted.

Be warned: this note is long, typically about 5 A4 pages if printed out, even if the print-out does not contain any menus or extraneous matter, and it may take some time to digest it! It is based on the situation in Cyprus but there is info that is applicable everywhere. However, if you are diligent, you may find the odd snatch of humour in it!

Enjoy it!

[Dr Mordrid]

The smallest vortical wind is the dust devil, a small whirlwind from 50 cm to 10 m across and usually only a few metres high. The wind can reach up to 15-20 m/s and it raises dust and stinging sand.

If only ours were just that small....US dust devils can be over 300 meters high, many tens of meters wide and knock you flat on your ass while sandblasting your car

[KRSESQ]

knock you flat on your ass while sandblasting your car

Stings like Hell, too.

[Brian Ellis]

If only ours were just that small....US dust devils can be over 300 meters high, many tens of meters wide and knock you flat on your ass while sandblasting your car

Only in Texas, where everything is bigger and better!

[cjolley]

Lol, all rank amateurs compared to Oklahoma.

[Jammrock]

Oklahoma...Texas...please, in Kansas we don't even pause outdoor weddings while tornadoes (plural) are passing by.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/05/tornado-backdrop-in-kansas-wedding-photos/

[cjolley]

Oklahoma...Texas...please, in Kansas we don't even pause outdoor weddings while tornadoes (plural) are passing by.

There's more than one way to interpret that fact you know.

[Jammrock]

I always joke that you can tell who is from Kansas and who isn't by what they do when the tornado sirens go off. Non-Kansans will duck for cover, Kansans go out to the porch and say "where is it?"