Winds gusted over 60 miles per hour at times today making for an incredibly windy day by western Massachusetts standards.
Why is it so windy today?
An area of high pressure and low pressure were pretty close together. Around a high the air circulates clockwise and there’s generally dry weather, around a low pressure the air circles counter clockwise and that typically means a storm system.
You’re better off thinking about a high and low as a mountain versus a valley. If a valley is close to a mountain then the slope to get from the mountain to the valley is steep. Instead of a slope we have changing pressure giving way to strong winds to equal out the two. So low pressure and high pressure close together brings gusty winds.
From a more scientific perspective we look at lines of constant pressure. The tighter these lines are together the stronger the winds are, because you have to go from high pressure to low pressure quickly. The bigger the pressure change over a short distance, the stronger the winds.
- How to prepare for high winds, possible power outage
- Reports of wind damage in western Massachusetts
- Reports of high wind gusts in western Massachusetts
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Max Wind Gusts today (so far). It’s certainly possible these numbers go up this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/ciaKmnLri0— Nick Bannin (@nickbannin) February 25, 2019
