Winds - Sept. 7, 2007

Wind is moving air. It is caused by the difference in the air pressure from one point to another. Nature tries to balance things out. Higher states of energy tend to move to areas of lower states of energy. That is the second law of thermodynamics. Wind is the air that moves from high pressure (the big blue H symbols you see on a weather map) to low pressure (the big red L symbols). But due to the earth’s rotation, north of the equator the spin moves the wind to the right. This is called the Coriolis Effect. Here in the northern hemisphere winds blow around the high pressure in a clockwise rotation towards low pressure. The closer the high and low pressure systems are to each other the windier it gets. Due partly to geography some areas are much windier than others. There is a big difference in the average wind speed in western Oklahoma from the eastern part of the State. I’ve traveled through Amarillo a few times and found it to be one of the windiest places I have ever been. According to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center Dodge City, KS has the distinction of being rated as the windiest city in America. The average wind speed is about 14 m.p.h. Amarillo averages 13.5 m.ph. and Oklahoma City averages 12.2 m.p.h. Persistent high winds are the reasons you see all the huge wind generators in western Oklahoma. It is a renewable natural resource and I expect to even more of the these towering structures in the years ahead. That great philosopher, Bob Dylan said, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” He is right on that one, but sometimes a weatherman can help you know understand why it’s blowing. If you have a weather question, send it to: askdan@kjhr.com