WIND ~
It’s not my favorite. In fact, wind, I believe is my least favorite weather phenomenon on earth. It actually takes care of and encompasses quite a few catastrophic weather conditions, so I believe I fully cover myself on all accounts when I state that wind is, indeed, the most detestable of all weather.
It’s been terribly windy this week. Terribly so! The banshees were blowing, howling, screeeeaaaaming all night long for multiple nights in a row. Just for a moment, the gusts would calm to but a whisper, until just at the precise and momentary arrival of sweep slumber, the sirens would begin again. It has been just miserable.
However, in the spirit of Fabulous Finishing Fridays, utter awesomeness, and all-out positivity, I decided to reflect on 10 really amazing things regarding this ever irritating blowing breeze:
1. The United States generates more wind energy than any other country except China, and wind accounts for 35 percent of all newly installed U.S. electricity generation capacity over the last four years.
2. Warm air weighs less than cooler air. Warm air will rise. When the cool air replaces the warm air, the wind will blow. ~ Oh, warm air and cool air, why can’t you just get along?
3. Wind will be around as long as the sun shines.
4. The fastest winds on earth are inside a tornado funnel. Winds here have been recorded at 300 mph. ~ This is what it felt like last Friday night – truly.
5. The strongest wind gust recorded on the surface of the earth is 231 mph (not inside the eye of a tornado) at Mount Washington, New Hampshire April 12 1934. ~ I’ll bet they were worrying about a bit more than lost shingles and downed fences that April! Phew.
6. Wind power and solar power aren’t too different. It is the heat of the sun that causes wind to form. The irregular heating caused by the irregular surface of the earth causes changes in air pressure, and thus wind is formed when molecules try to travel from high air pressure areas to low pressure areas. The sun is the producer of both solar and wind power! ~ I simply LOVE sunshine!
7. Helps plants make love. Roots twist and tie bushes and trees into forest floors preventing them from spreading their seeds too far. Thankfully the wind blows by to carry maple keys and pollen into new spaces and new places. Next time you glance at fields of pretty flowers besides the highway or see a spread of tall trees over the horizon… well, just remember who helped make it all happen.
8. It brings peace (well, sort of). When the wind whips through your body, when it whips through your soul, sometimes you feel that supernatural sense of being at one with nature, at one with the world, and at one on the planet.
9. Between 2008 and 2012, wind power has provided 36.5% of all new generating capacity in the United States.
10. It’s not always windy – the breeze may blow – but there are often “calms before the storm.”
Have a fabulously NON WINDY weekend!
