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Shifty Winds
Tue Apr 26, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook.
Today we offer a "field guide" to thunderstorm winds,--things you can look for to give
you some insight into some of the most powerful packets of energy on earth.
From a safe spot obviously, try to observe which way the wind is blowing, as a
thunderstorm approaches, during the storm and as the storm departs. At first, before
the rain arrives, when the sky is dark grey and the thunder is rumbling in the distance,
the wind can start to pick up in a hurry. And after the storm really gets down to
business, with thunder, lightning, downpours and maybe even some hail, the wind
might ease up a bit, perhaps even dropping off to calm for a few minutes. While the
rain continues the wind may again pick up, but this time not as much and, it may be
blowing from the opposite direction it was blowing before the storm.
In another twenty minutes or so the wind and rain will stop and there you have it, a
textbook thunderstorm complete with something called a down draft. As heavy rain and
hail fall, it pulls the surrounding cold air down with it. When the air hits the ground it
has to spread out, sort of like a big splash from a waterfall. One side of the splash
goes one way, the other side goes the other way, just like you'll see the wind do as the
next thunderstorm passes over head. This is why that first gust of wind in a
thunderstorm feels so refreshing, because it's air coming from way up high where
even the summer air is cool, even cold.
The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory and is
made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Want to know more
about thunderstorms? Go to our website at weathernotebook.org.
Today's Links
The Weather Notebook
www.weathernotebook.org
The Severe Weather Watcher's Handbook
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/severe_weather/
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