This is a polar view data map for wind speed for Jan-Feb 2014 indicating deviations from the 30 year average (1981-2010), the darker the color the greater the deviation. The brown coloring, indicating below average wind speeds, off the North American west coast accounts for much of the drought conditions we've seen. The blue color indicates higher than normal wind speeds which apparently shows we should be building wind farms between Iceland and Greenland. Interestingly, the map shows much of the U.S. and Canada experiencing normal wind conditions so far in 2014, indicated by white areas, which is somewhat counter-intuitive to me. From my personal experience this winter, the wind may not have blown with more intensity in the midwest these past two months, but it certainly seems to have blown more incessantly.
As for "bombogenesis" and it's meaning, I encourage a visit to the web page for an explanation and larger image of the map.
NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory - Bombogenesis in the North Atlantic
No comments:
Post a Comment