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# *Wind.* #
Let's get this straight. I do not like wind. Particularly high wind. Where I live, in Colorado, wind is our enemy. It dries everything out which increases fire risk *as well as increasing overall fire hazard!*
Don't get me wrong. I completely support a steady cool breeze on a hot day, particularly, or to fly a kite, but high winds are just a waste. It sends dirt flying, makes it hard to see, and if snow is falling poor visibility leading to accidents and all sorts of problems!
High winds alone can cause semis to tip over, rip trees from the ground, knock down power lines, and in parts of the country, lead to tornadoes.
And wind at night? Creepy. Juuuust creepy. Not to mention depressing, as far as I'm concerned.
# *This got me to thinking... wondering, what causes wind?* #
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Now don't get me wrong. I'm not some science nut who's going to geek all out on funky terms and complex information. (I find that highly boring and completely snobbish, as in nap time! SNORE!!!!!). What I am looking for is a reasonable, logical explanation that's easy to understand. Yanno. For the majority of us that aren't a member of the local MENSA chapter. And no, I have no idea if I spelled MENSA right!
Anyways.
# *Back to wind.* #
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Wind, as defined by dictionary.com, is *the perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction.*
Ok. That's a good starting point but let's get to what's really going on here.
According to the site universetoday.com, *wind is caused by air flowing from high pressure to low pressure. The Earth's rotation prevents that flow from being direct, but deflects it side to side(right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern), so wind flows around the high and low pressure areas.*
Ok I see the whole thing about winds and high and low pressure because of the overcast but what makes them so strong? Apparently winds are higher when low and high pressure systems are closer together. This is called *pressure gradient.* -universetoday.com
Wikipedia though, gave me a more easy to understand explanation.
*Wind is caused by differences in the atmospheric pressure. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds.*
Ok. Annd...*on a rotating planet, air will also be deflected by the Coriolis effect, except exactly on the equator.*
# *Ok what on God's green earth is the Coriolis Effect?* #
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The website oceanservice.noaa.gov gave me the best, most understandable explanation, as far as I'm concerned.
*If the Earth did not rotate on its axis, the atmosphere would only circulate between the poles and the equator in a simple back-and-forth pattern.*
*Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This deflection is called the Coriolis effect.*
Finally a light goes on in my brain! Wind blows left to right or right to left because the earth spins on an axis, and which direction it blows from depends on where you are in relation to the Earth's equator.
So. Where as the wind here in Colorado blows West to East, in Australia it blows from East to West. Got it!
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I still don't quite understand what makes winds blow hard though. Or, "high wind". What I found refers to high winds as "damaging wind". Most often these are associated with thunderstorms.
# *So what causes high, or damaging, wind?* #
*Damaging winds are often called “straight-line” winds to differentiate the damage they cause from tornado damage. Strong thunderstorm winds can come from a number of different processes. Most thunderstorm winds that cause damage at the ground are a result of outflow generated by a thunderstorm downdraft. Damaging winds are classified as those exceeding 50-60 mph.*
*Damage from severe thunderstorm winds account for half of all severe reports in the lower 48 states and is more common than damage from tornadoes. Wind speeds can reach up to 100 mph and can produce a damage path extending for hundreds of miles.*
-source, nssl.noaa.gov
Wait. What this doesn't explain is what a down draft is and what causes a down draft? Without this, I dunno about you, but I don't have a full picture.
Per brittanica.com, a down draft is *a downward moving air current. (There are also updrafts as well). Updraft and downdraft, in meteorology, upward-moving and downward-moving air currents, respectively, that are due to several causes. Local daytime heating of the ground causes surface air to become much warmer than the air above, and, because warmer air is less dense, it rises and is replaced by descending cooler air.*
Ok but what about high winds when it's a clear sunny day? What causes that? Well there doesn't seem to be a direct answer to this question in any of the research I've done. Best I can tell, *high winds occurring on a sunny day could be combined forces of up and downdrafts due to low and high pressure systems that ahead of a storm. Or it can be the interaction between hot and cold air influenced by the Earth's temperature, time of year, and the sun.*
-source, nssl.noaa.gov
While understanding what causes wind helps me to understand what's going on out there in nature, it doesn't reduce my irrationwhen it's on going. I am however very grateful to be living in state that doesn't have high winds or much in the way of wind on a regular basis!
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