It steals your hat, makes electricity and can tear down buildings. What is it? Wind, of course! ....and we've been getting a lot of it in Utah recently. I was curious about where it comes from so I looked up some information and decided to share it here!
Air molecules are moving constantly and are always bumping into each other. The more air molecules there are in a certain area, the higher the air pressure. Air pressure is just the amount of force (or weight of the air) that is hitting any given area at a certain time. Changes in air pressure over horizontal distances causes air molecules to rush from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.
In other words, as the sun heats the air, it rises. Cooler air rushes in to fill in the space, making wind.
I was interested in looking up the wind because we've been having a LOT of it here! Yesterday at the park we had 60 mph gusts and steady wind all day of about 30 mph. The sky was brown with all the red/brown dust in the air. The last time I saw it that bad, when it rained everything was covered in mud. I sent my after school club kids home early so they wouldn't be caught in the storm! My roommate was riding her bike home at the time and came home splattered in red mud.
I like wind sometimes--like when I'm working or at home but I don't like hiking in it. Yesterday I had sunscreen on so that meant I was covered in sand by the time I got home. Also it's no fun setting up your tent in the wind...our group site campers left early because the wind destroyed their tents! That brings up another memory (sorry!)....last year I was asked to do some overtime at the park, so I had planned to just camp on top of the mesa at the Long Canyon road--I was supposed to work until midnight and didn't want to drive all the way into town and back. It was really windy when I was setting up my tent but I loaded it with pillow and sleeping bag. I decided it was time to call it off when I had to go get it out of a tree!
I was interested in looking up the wind because we've been having a LOT of it here! Yesterday at the park we had 60 mph gusts and steady wind all day of about 30 mph. The sky was brown with all the red/brown dust in the air. The last time I saw it that bad, when it rained everything was covered in mud. I sent my after school club kids home early so they wouldn't be caught in the storm! My roommate was riding her bike home at the time and came home splattered in red mud.
I like wind sometimes--like when I'm working or at home but I don't like hiking in it. Yesterday I had sunscreen on so that meant I was covered in sand by the time I got home. Also it's no fun setting up your tent in the wind...our group site campers left early because the wind destroyed their tents! That brings up another memory (sorry!)....last year I was asked to do some overtime at the park, so I had planned to just camp on top of the mesa at the Long Canyon road--I was supposed to work until midnight and didn't want to drive all the way into town and back. It was really windy when I was setting up my tent but I loaded it with pillow and sleeping bag. I decided it was time to call it off when I had to go get it out of a tree!
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