The wind is one of the most unique natural phenomena... We cannot see it, touch it, but we are able to observe the results of its manifestation, for example, how it slowly or quickly drives clouds and clouds across the sky, with its strength tilts trees to the ground or slightly flutters the foliage.
Wind concept
What is wind? The definition from the point of view of meteorology is as follows: it is the horizontal movement of air layers from a zone with high atmospheric pressure to a low atmospheric pressure zone, accompanied by a certain speed. This movement occurs because during the day the sun penetrates the air layer of the Earth. Some rays, reaching the surface, heat the oceans, seas, rivers, mountains, soil, rocks and stones, which give off heat to the air, thereby heating it too. For the same amount of time, dark objects absorb more heat and get warmer.
But what does it matter how heat is released and how quickly? And how does this help us figure out what the wind is? The definition is as follows: land heats up more rapidly than water, which means that the air accumulated above it receives heat from it and rises up, therefore, Atmosphere pressure falls over this area. With water, everything is exactly the opposite: above it the air masses are colder and the pressure is higher. As a result, cold air is displaced from the site. high pressure in a low area, forming a wind. The greater the difference between these pressures, the stronger it is.
Types of winds
Having figured out what the wind is, you need to find out how many types of it exist and how they differ from each other. There are three main groups of winds:
- local;
- permanent;
- regional.
Local winds live up to their name and blow only in certain areas of our planet. Their appearance is associated with the specificity of local reliefs and temperature changes in relatively short periods of time. These winds are characterized by a small extent and daily frequency.
What is the local wind is now clear, but it is also divided into its subspecies:
- A breeze is a light wind that changes direction twice a day. During the day it blows from the sea to the land, and at night it is the other way around.
- Bora is a high-speed cold air stream blowing from mountain tops to valleys or coasts. He is fickle.
- Fyong is a warm and light spring breeze.
- Dry wind is a dry wind prevailing in steppe regions during a warm period of time in an anticyclone. It portends drought.
- Sirocco - Rapid southern, southwestern air currents that form in the Sahara.
- And what is the khamsin wind? These are dusty, dry and hot air masses prevailing in northeastern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.
TO constant winds include those that depend on the total air circulation. They are firm, uniform, consistent and strong. These include:
- trade winds - winds from the east, characterized by constancy, unchanging direction and strength of 3-4 points;
- anti-trade winds - winds from the west, carrying huge air masses.
The regional wind appears as a result of pressure drops, a bit similar to the local wind, but more stable and powerful. A bright representative this species is considered a monsoon, which originates in the tropics, at the turn of the ocean. It blows periodically, but in large-scale streams, changing its direction a couple of times a year: during the summer season - from water to land, during the winter - vice versa. The monsoon brings in a lot of moisture in the form of rain.
A strong wind is ...
What is a strong wind and how does it differ from other streams? Its most important feature is its high speed, which fluctuates between 14-32 m / s. It produces devastating actions or brings damage, destruction. In addition to speed, temperature, direction, location and duration are also important.
Types of strong winds
- Typhoon (hurricane) is accompanied by intense precipitation and a drop in temperature, great force, speed (177 km / h and more), blowing at a distance of 20-200 m for several days.
- What is the wind called a squall? This is a sharp, sudden stream with a speed of 72-108 km / h, formed during a hot period as a result of the powerful penetration of cold air into warm zones. It blows for a couple of seconds or tens of minutes, changing direction, and brings a decrease in temperature.
- Storm: its speed is 103-120 km / h. Characterized long duration, by force. He is the source of violent sea vibrations and destruction on land.
- A tornado (tornado) is an air vortex, visually similar to a dark pillar, along which a curved axis runs. There are funnel-like extensions at the bottom and top of the pillar. The air in the vortex rotates counterclockwise at a speed of 300 km / h and draws all nearby objects and objects into its funnel. The pressure inside the tornado is reduced. The pillar reaches a height of 1500 m, and its diameter is from ten (above the water) to hundreds of meters (above the ground). A tornado can travel from a couple of hundred meters to tens of kilometers at a speed of 60 km / h.
- Storm is an air mass, the speed of which is in the range of 62-100 km / h. Storms abundantly cover areas with sand, dust, snow, earth, causing harm to people and the economy.
Wind force description
Answering the question of what the wind force is, it will be appropriate to note that here the concept of force is interconnected with speed: the higher it is, the stronger the wind. This indicator is measured on the 13-point Beaufort scale. Zero value characterizes calm, 3 points - light, weak wind, 7 - powerful, 9 - the appearance of a storm, over nine - merciless storms, hurricanes. Strong winds often blow over the sea, ocean, because nothing bothers them here, unlike rocky mountains, hills, forests.
Determination of solar wind
What is solar wind? This amazing phenomenon... Ionized plasma particles flow out of the solar corona (outer layer) into space with a speed range of 300-1200 km / s, which depends on the activity of the Sun.
There are slow (400 km / s), fast (700 km / s), high-speed (up to 1200 km / s) solar winds... They are around the central heavenly body form an area with space that protects Solar system from the ingress of interstellar gas into it. In addition, thanks to them, such phenomena as the radiation belt and the aurora occur on our planet. This is what the solar wind is.
A hurricane is a tropical type of cyclone. It is distinguished by its relatively small size, but rather destructive power. The very name "hurricane" comes from the English "hurricane", which is used to name strong cyclones.
As a rule, they originate near the North or South America. His neighbors and close relatives come from the Asia region, and Of the Far East, and usually weaker ones. They are called typhoons.
It should be noted that not every cyclone can be called a hurricane. Some pass with atmospheric phenomena typical for the area and then fade out. The cyclone itself is atmospheric vortex impressive size which is twisted into southern hemisphere clockwise, and counterclockwise in the north. They are especially clearly visible from space. But atmospheric phenomenon When viewed from above, it has a spiral shape with a hole in the middle, this is the so-called "eye of the storm". There is a zone in the center of the cyclone reduced pressure... Cyclones owe their origin to the rotation of the planet, while simultaneously moving in its orbit, therefore such a phenomenon is considered common.
The size of cyclones can be several thousand kilometers, while the eye varies from 2-3 kilometers to several dozen. As a rule, the size of hurricanes is much smaller, but the speed of air movement in a spiral is much faster and reaches several hundred kilometers per hour. Maximum 300 kilometers per hour.
In the area that is called the "eye of the storm" (or eye of the typhoon) usually calm weather with more high temperature. Warm air descends and falls into the first turns of the spiral, where the colder mass is. As a result, an area with high pressure differences is formed. She, in turn, promotes unwinding air masses hurricane in general. Therefore, the center of the spiral, near the "eye", has increased power, the highest speed and, usually, thunderclouds causing heavy showers.
Tropical hurricanes rise over warm waters oceans somewhere in the equator. As a result of the rotation of the planet, they move to the west and shift to the north. This is what determines a large number of hurricanes off the eastern shores North America, as well as Mexico. These territories are larger than the rest in Lately suffer from the effects of severe hurricanes.
Hurricane strength is measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which has five categories. Today, only a few hurricanes of the fifth, highest category are known.
Now every year there are about a dozen cyclones and several dozen cyclones around the planet. And here are the strongest ones.
Most strong hurricane in the world
The Great Hurricane of 1780, or another name - San Calixto. This tropical cyclone huge power, which raged in the fall of 1780 near the Caribbean archipelago. He became the deadliest of all known hurricanes... According to the documents of that time, at least 22 thousand dead are known. And since in the eighteenth century the statistics were very relative, compared to today, it can be safely said that the number of victims was much higher.
The great hurricane touched the islands The Caribbean, from the island of Newfoundland to Barbados, passed Haiti and destroyed up to 95 percent of all buildings. And that's not counting the thousands of lost lives. The tidal wave caused by the hurricane, like a powerful tsunami, passed through some islands, sometimes reaching 7-8 meters in height. She demolished absolutely everything in her path. The hurricane was accompanied by strong waves at sea, so many ships were sunk both in port bays and at some distance from the coast. Part of the French and British fleets, which took part in civil war USA. About a hundred ships ran aground in the water area.
Eyewitnesses said that the rain, under the influence of a strong wind, tore off the bark from the trunks of trees, and this before knocking them down. According to the conclusions of scientists, the wind speed was then at least 350 kilometers per hour.
Mitch
The hurricane, called Mitch, swept across the Atlantic Basin with incredible power and strength. It was born in October 1998 in the south Caribbean... Meteorologists have assigned it the fifth category, the highest. This is due to the speed of the wind, the gusts of which reached 320 kilometers per hour. The hurricane affected the territories of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.
Hurricane Mitch. Consequences
He completely devastated them and took the lives of 20 thousand people. Most people died from mudflows, strong winds and tidal waves, which rose up to 6 meters in height. More than a million people were left homeless, and hundreds were in need of drinking water and medicines. As a result, this led to an increase in infectious diseases.
Katrina
The name Katrina is known to absolutely every American. Because it is the strongest and most destructive hurricane ever to hit the coast of America. Hurricane Katrina originated in August 2005 in the Bahamas. He quickly gained strength and began to develop towards east coast USA. As soon as the bad weather reached the American shores, the hurricane received the fifth category in strength.
But for acceptance necessary measures it was already too late. The authorities were unable to cope with the consequences of the disaster. Therefore, at that time, President George W. Bush's approval rating fell to 38 percent. According to official figures, more than one and a half thousand people became victims of the hurricane. Another half a million were left homeless. Moreover, about 80 percent of New Orleans is flooded.
Typhoon in Pakistan
On the night of November 13, 1970, a powerful typhoon hit the coastal areas of East Pakistan. The hurricane wind formed huge wave up to 8 meters high. She swept across a number of islands and coastal areas... This typhoon became almost the most major disaster throughout the history of mankind. According to various estimates, the death toll ranged from 500, from thousands to a million people.
Where is the rainiest region on Earth, who declared their territory the "world capital of lightning" and which region in Russia is considered the most hail-hazardous?
Wind
The most windy place in the world is considered the Antarctic coast of the Commonwealth Sea, where almost daily winds blow at a speed of 15 m / s and more.
Record gusts of wind near the Earth's surface were recorded by an automatic weather station in Australian Barrow Island April 10, 1996 - they reached 113 m / s (408 km / h).
The velocities of tornadoes and tornadoes have been higher, but their measurement is extremely life-threatening and there is no one hundred percent data. However, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the most powerful tornado is considered, which raced on April 2, 1958 through the Texas city of Wichita Falls at a speed of 450 km / h. The speed was estimated by the colossal destruction produced. By the way, it is in the United States that there is a record number of tornadoes - 65% of the world's total. So, in April 2011, they were counted 758, and during the day, April 27-28, 211 vortices flew by. Almost all of them are formed in a kind of corridor that stretches through the valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers. Locals call it "tornado alley". Tornadoes and tornadoes occur where warm and humid sea air comes into contact with dry and cold continental air.
The record in Russia belongs to Kharlov Island in the Barents Sea. On February 8, 1986, wind gusts reached 52 m / s (187 km / h). Most often strong winds(starting from 15 m / s) are observed in the coastal zones of Kamchatka, Arkhangelsk, Magadan regions, in the area of Dikson and Novorossiysk.
The wind noticeably "lowers" the air temperature felt by a person, worsens the comfort of the weather. We will feel the temperature of 0 ° С with a wind of 10 m / s as -7 ° С, with gusts of 20 m / s - already as -10 ° С.
reference
Wind speed at meteorological stations in most countries of the world is measured at an altitude of 10 m and averaged over 10 minutes. Instant gusts of wind are investigated separately. Both observations are important: you need to know the wind regime of the area and extreme manifestations of the elements. The speed is measured by various devices: anemometers, probes, radars.
Precipitation
Cherrapunji, a city in the Indian state of Meghalaya, is considered one of the rainiest and wet places on the ground. The average annual quantity precipitation here is 11,777 mm.
As the longest, the Guinness Book of Records recorded rain that lasted 247 days without a break on the island of Kauai in Hawaii from August 27, 1993 to April 30, 1994. The average rainfall on the island is up to 11 684 mm per year.
The driest place on Earth is in Antarctica - this is the McMurdo Dry Valleys: there has been no snow and rain for millions of years. Also, there is practically no rainfall in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The only time an anomaly happened here: on May 19, 2010, a short-term snow fell.
In Russia, the most precipitation is observed on the Achishkho mountain range near Sochi - about 3240 mm per year. The driest area is considered Caspian lowland- in some places less than 200 mm.
Humidity 30-60% belongs to a comfortable norm for humans. Air, relative humidity which is less than 20%, is assessed as dry, more than 86% - as very wet. In dry air, a person can tolerate heat, but he becomes dehydrated.
reference
The amount of precipitation is measured using a rain gauge bucket, which is installed on a wooden post inside a special cone-shaped protection. Precipitation falls from the clouds in the form of rain, drizzle, snow, snow and ice grains, freezing rain and hail.
Hail
Hail is a short-term phenomenon and is most often similar in size to small peas. But every year in the world there are several cases of dangerous hail. "Ice bombs" are falling from the sky in India, in the south of China, in Bangladesh, in the west of Kenya, in the USA ...
One of the hailstones that fell on July 23, 2010 in Viviana was kept in the refrigerator by American meteorologists and registered as a record: its diameter was 20 cm, and its weight was 880 g. The hailstones of the same size, but weighing 1002 g, caused the tragedy in Bangladesh 14 April 1986 According to eyewitnesses, in April 1981 in Guangdong province (China), hail was observed weighing up to 7 kg.
In Russia, it is most often observed in the southern regions.
The city is considered dangerous phenomenon if its diameter has reached 2 cm or more. In the village of Voznesenskaya, on July 25, 1957, the most large hail over the entire history of observations in Krasnodar Territory... Individual hailstones weighed 1.5 kg.
Advice
If during the hail you find yourself in the car, it is advisable to stop (but not go out) and turn your back to the windows, covering your head with your hands or clothes. If you are at home, you need to move away from the windows.
Thunderstorm
The world's centers of thunderstorms are located in certain regions of Central and South America, South-East Asia, Central and East Africa, that is, where high humidity and warming up the air lead to the rapid formation of rain clouds. For example, in Singapore, on average, there are 170 thunderstorms per year, in the Amazon basin - more than 200, on the island of Java - up to 220. The maximum thunderstorm activity occurs in Uganda - from 250 to 270 days a year. A thunderstorm in the listed regions can last from three to ten hours, while on the territory of Russia average duration one thunderstorm - no more than two hours. Maximum number days with a thunderstorm - an average of 30-40 - fall on the Sochi region and the foothills of the Caucasus.
Thunderstorms are always accompanied by lightning and thunder.
Lightning
The most high concentration lightning was registered in the valley of the Catatumbo River, which flows into Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela), - 250 strikes over each square kilometer per year. Total number lightning during the year exceeds 1 million. Continuous discharges illuminate Catatumbo from 365 nights 140-160 times. Reflections of light are visible at a distance of up to 400 km. The Venezuelan municipality has declared this territory "the world capital of lightning".
Advice
A thunderstorm accompanied by lightning is one of the most dangerous natural phenomena for human life. It is important to know the basic safety rules.
You can not be near power lines, under trees, especially standing alone, on open area and uplands. If you find yourself in an open area, it is best to squat down. It is undesirable to go in a thunderstorm under an umbrella with metal spokes. During a thunderstorm, do not allow contact with metal devices and mobile phones, including indoors. It is better to wait out the element in the shelter.
Air temperature
The absolute minimum temperature on Earth (-89.2 ° C) was recorded in Antarctica at the Vostok station on July 21, 1983. But since the station is located at an altitude of 3488 m, its readings cannot be considered a record. To compare different observations, they must be reduced to sea level. In this case, the most low temperatures end up in Yakutia. Verkhoyansk is officially recognized as the cold pole of the planet (137 m above sea level), where a temperature of -67.8 ° C was observed on February 5-8, 1892. Unofficially - the village of Oymyakon (745 m), in which serial meteorological observations began to be carried out much later. A number of sources cite data that in January 1916 the temperature here dropped to -82 ° C.
As for the heat, in the Libyan city of Al-Aziziyah on September 13, 1922, a planetary record was recorded in the shade: +57.7 ° C. The Valley of Death in California is not far behind - + 56.7 ° С. The absolute maximum in Russia (+45.4 ° С) was recorded at the Utta meteorological station in Kalmykia on July 12, 2010. By the way, many districts set their regional records during those abnormally hot summer. For example, in Moscow on July 29, 2010 the air warmed up to +38.2 ° С. By the way, the record minimum for the capital (-42.2 ° С) was set in 1940.
Advice
A person's acclimatization to a hot climate or arctic cold is individual. But definitely residents temperate latitudes are more susceptible to various disorders: heatstroke, impaired water exchange, sunburn- which are fraught with consequences for the body. For them, air temperatures from +38 ° C (it is close to the blood temperature) are already dangerous. In addition, people with unpigmented skin are more likely to get serious illness, especially with prolonged sun exposure.
reference
According to international meteorological rules, the air temperature is measured with a special thermometer, which is located at a height of 2 m from the soil surface in a well-ventilated booth, protected from direct sun rays and located away from buildings.
Records in one line
- The sunniest place on the planet is considered the city of Yuma in the state of Arizona, in Russia - Borzya in the Trans-Baikal Territory.
- The most foggy city in Russia is Yuzhno-Kurilsk, where this phenomenon is observed on average 118 days a year (in Moscow - about ten days).
- Severe ice covered southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States from January 4 to 10, 1998. The diameter of the deposits in some places reached record values of 10-12 cm.
- The city of Loma in the state of Montana in the United States is the record holder for temperature change: during the day on January 15, 1972, the temperature jumped from -48 to +9 ° C.
- A record snowflake was recorded in the town of Fort Keough, Montana in January 1887 - its diameter was 38 cm (usually about 5 mm).
- The most snowy place in Russia - the village of Pushchino in Kamchatka. The minimum number of days with snow is observed in Sochi, but only 10 km from Krasnaya Polyana - on the Achishkho ridge, the height of snow can be 10 m.
Tropical cyclones or hurricanes bring with them not only extreme winds, but also rainstorms, big waves, storm surges and tornadoes. Interestingly, in the North and South America tropical cyclones are called hurricanes, and in Asia they are called typhoons. Below is a list of the ten most destructive hurricanes on record.
Katrina is one of the most destructive Atlantic hurricanes in United States history. It originated on 23 August 2005 in the Bahamas, peaked on 28 August and dissipated on 31. On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, Katrina was rated as a Category 5 hurricane. The wind speed reached 280 km / h. The cyclone and subsequent floods killed at least 1,245 people. General material damage was estimated at $ 108 billion (2005). Hardest hit New Orleans in the state of Louisiana - about 80% of the city's area was under water.
"Andrew" is a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane (with a wind speed of 270 km / h), formed on August 14, 1992 in Atlantic Ocean over the west coast of Africa. Andrew sailed through the northwestern Bahamas, southern Florida and southwestern Louisiana, killing 65 people and destroying many homes, in many cases leaving only concrete foundations. The total damage caused by the hurricane in all affected regions exceeded $ 26 billion (1992).
The Great Hurricane of 1780, or San Calixto II, is the deadliest tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic Basin, killing more than 22,000 people in the Lesser Antilles and Bermuda between October 10-16, 1780. Its specificity and exact strength are unknown, since the official hurricane database began to be maintained in 1851. There is an assumption that the wind force could exceed 320 km / h.
"Ike" is a tropical cyclone of the 4th hazard category (wind speed over 215 km / h) according to the Saffir-Simpson five-point scale. Went through the Greater Antilles and south coast USA between September 1-14, 2008. It was born in last days August off the coast of Africa and at the time of reaching North America near Galveston, Texas, the storm diameter was more than 1,450 km, making it the largest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean on record. According to preliminary estimates, the material damage from Hurricane Ike amounted to approximately $ 37.5 billion. It killed 195 people in the United States, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Iniki - powerful hurricane 4 categories, formed on September 5, 1992 and passed through the territory Hawaiian Islands... The wind speed reached 233 km / h. The total damage from hurricane Iniki amounted to about $ 1.8 billion (for 1992). The island of Kauai suffered the most, where 5152 houses were badly damaged and another 1421 were completely destroyed. As a result of the hurricane, more than 7 thousand people were left homeless, 6 people died. The Iniki scattered on September 13, midway between Hawaii and Alaska.
The Galveston Hurricane, the deadliest hurricane in US history, made landfall near Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900. As a result, from 6 thousand to 12 thousand people died (most often the figure is 8000). At average speed wind 233 km / h it was assigned the 4th hazard category on the Saffir - Simpson hurricane scale. The material damage caused is estimated at $ 20 million (1900). Then more than 3,600 houses were destroyed, and only ruins remained of the largest city in the state of Texas at that time with a population of 42 thousand.
Pauline is one of the deadliest Pacific hurricanes to ever hit the shores of Mexico. It was formed on October 5, 1997, approximately 410 km south-west of the city of Santa Maria Huatulco. Initially headed east, then turned northwest, reaching a peak wind speed of 215 km / h. Moving parallel to the Mexican coast, Hurricane Pauline caused heavy rains that caused floods and landslides in some of Mexico's poorest areas, killing 230-500 people. As a result of the hurricane, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed and damaged, about 300 thousand people were left homeless. The total damage amounted to $ 7.5 billion (1997).
The third most destructive hurricane in history is Kenna. It is a powerful hurricane that formed in the northeastern Pacific Ocean on October 22, 2002. Having reached a peak wind speed of 270 km / h, it was assigned the 5th hazard category. The city of San Blas was hardest hit in Mexican state Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, where more than 100 people were injured. As a result of the hurricane, thousands of homes were damaged or completely destroyed. In total, he claimed 4 lives and caused $ 101 million in damage (as of 2002).
Typhoon "Nina" is a category 4 tropical cyclone (the maximum wind speed reached 250 km / h), which passed in early August 1975 through Taiwan and China. In the central Chinese province of Henan, severe flooding caused by rains destroyed the Banqiao Dam and burst 62 dams. As a result of the flood, 26 thousand people died (according to other sources, up to 85,000), and later - due to hunger - about 145 thousand more. In addition, over 300,000 livestock were killed and some 5,960,000 buildings were destroyed. The hurricane was estimated to cause damage of US $ 1.2 billion (1995).
Cyclone Bhola is a destructive category 3 tropical cyclone (the maximum wind speed reached 205 km / h), which struck the territory of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Indian state of West Bengal on November 12, 1970. It is the world's largest tropical cyclone and one of the worst natural disasters in recent history... It is estimated that 300-500 thousand people lost their lives, mainly as a result of a storm tide with a height of 9 m, which swept away entire villages and agricultural lands in the region on its way. In the hardest hit Upazils Thanh and Tazumuddin, more than 45% of the population died. The total damage from the cyclone was $ 86.4 million (1970).
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