Summer is coming. Warm days are getting warmer and soon the intense heat of Summer will be upon us. Now it is the end of Spring. In the photo below, my horse enjoys a warm morning eating grass among the wild flowers. There is a sweet and cool wind blowing, tempering the sun’s warmth and making the day glorious.
A week ago, about 150 miles East of the meadow above, a thunderstorm blew through downtown Houston. The fierce winds sucked the glass from hundreds of windows in the skyscrapers. The streets below were thick with broken glass fragments. Billions of dollars in damage was caused by wind. The same wind that blew across the meadow this morning.
This was not a tornado or a hurricane. It was a derecho. That was a new word for disaster. A derecho is a straight line of intense and widespread damaging winds. They can travel hundreds of miles. The one that blew through Houston had 80-100 mph wind velocities.
Recent research by Prein based on “observations, high-resolution modelling and theoretical considerations… show that SLWs [straight line winds] have intensified over the past 40 years. Theoretical considerations suggest that SLWs should intensify at a rate of?~7.5% °C-1, yet the observed rates show a more pronounced increase of?~13% °C-1.” (Prein, 2023)
Also, last week, an airliner ran into some turbulence. Not the kind that makes the plane bump and your coffee slosh around, but a terrifying sudden loss of lift causing a plunge of over 6000 feet in moments. Seventy people were injured and one person died. The interior of the plane was a shambles.
“Recent research indicates that turbulence is rising and that this change is sparked by climate change, specifically elevated carbon dioxide emissions affecting air currents. Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in England, … has found that clear air turbulence, which occurs most frequently at high altitudes and in winter, could triple by the end of the century. He said that this type of turbulence, of all categories, is increasing around the world at all flight altitudes.” (Chung, 2024)
Weather is changing. Wind in all its guises is changing. The recent events are definite signs that change is in the wind.
The Science Circle is entering into its off-season, Summer Break. This column will also go on hiatus in July and August. See you in September.
References
- Once-in-a-generation wind event caused deaths, extensive damage across Houston, meteorologist says, Isabella O’Malley, AP News, May 2024.
- Hurricane-force winds topple budding dream home like Popsicle sticks during Houston derecho, Hillary Andrews, FOX Weather, May 2024.
- What Is a Derecho?, Kimberley Holland, Southern Living, January 2024.
- Thunderstorms are becoming more intense due to climate change, Eric Ralls, earth.com.
- Thunderstorm straight line winds intensify with climate change, A. F. Prein, Nature Climate Change, 2023
- More intense and frequent thunderstorms linked to global climate variability, Texas A&M University, ScienceDaily, June 2021.
- Fasten Your Seatbelts: What You Need to Know About Turbulence, Christine Chung, New York Times, May 2024
- One Dead and Dozens Injured After ‘Extreme Turbulence’ on Flight, Clair Moses and Muktita Suhartono, New York Times, May 2024.
- Windy, The Association, 1967.
- See You in September, The Happenings, 1966.
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