Wind
From Trail-Finder -- Dedicated to getting you outside
Contents |
Overview
Wind seems pretty harmless, and unless it gets too strong, it usually is. Depending on your sport, though, it can become either inconvenient, or even dangerous.
Wind Nomenclature
Information about wind is always given with two pieces of information: Speed and direction.
Direction
Wind direction is given, not based on the direction it's blowing, like you'd expect, but based on the direction it's blowing from. This means a "north wind" is blowing from the north to the south. Sometimes, wind information is also given as "wind out of the south-southeast". This wind would be blowing toward the north-northwest
Speed
Wind speed on land is normally given in the same units as those used in driving a car on land in that country. In the US, it's expressed in miles per hour (mph). In countries which use metric units of measure, wind speed is usually expressed in kilometers per hour (kph).
Wind speed over large bodies of water, no matter what country you're in, is normally expressed in knots. A knot is one nautical mile per hour, or about 1.5 mph or 1.85 kph.
Wind speed is the average speed of the wind. Wind is often gusty, however, so there may be two speeds given, as in "15 knots, gusting to 25 knots."
Other Wind-Related Nomenclature
- Calm: Little or no wind.
- Downwind: If the wind blows past you, then to a lake, the lake is downwind of you.
- Fetch: Waves get bigger the longer distance the wind has to blow across the water. Fetch is the distance the wind has blown over the body of water to get to your location. Since the fetch is much shorter on the lee side of an island, the waves are usually much smaller.
- Lee: The lee side is the downwind side of something. This is normally used at sea to indicate the sheltered, downwind side of an island or other land. Same as leeward.
- Leeward: The leeward side is the downwind side of something. This is normally used at sea to indicate the sheltered, downwind side of an island or other land. Same as lee.
- Light and variable: Very little wind, but with mild gusts. Light and variable winds can help to cool you on a hot, summer day, but won't generally present any problems or risk of hypothermia.
- Upwind: If the wind blows past you, then to a lake, you are upwind of the lake.
- Wave height: The maximum height of waves, from peak to trough.
- Wavelength: The distance between waves.
- Windward: The windward side is the upwind side of something. This is normally used at sea to indicate the exposed, upwind side of an island or other land.
Activity-Specific Info
Hiking
Hikers usually aren't too troubled by win, unless it's also cold or wet. Cold, wet weather, combined with wind, creates both hypothermia and frostbite, which can both become serious medical problems if you don't quickly get out of the wind and apply wilderness first aid.
The other problem with hiking in strong wind is that of falling branches, and even trees. A lot of people think this isn't a serious problem, but on more than one occasion, I have been hiking and nearly been hit by large, falling branches.
Watersports
Not all watersports are created equal when it comes to wind risks. If you're canoeing or kayaking on a river, you'll hardly notice, except for the risk of frostbite and hypothermia, as mentioned in the hiking section above.
When it comes to open water, though, wind can become anywhere from a minor inconvenience to a life-threatening emergency. Wind can stir up a surface current, making it harder, even impossible, to go where you want. Waves will also pick up, except on the leeward side of land. Even at best, the wind will tend to turn your boat, making your exert more effort to go the same distance.
When the wind picks up, enough, you'll need to seek shelter. Bays and coves are the ideal destinations, but, as the saying goes, "any port in a storm." How often does this come up? It depends on where you are. In some places, it's not a problem. In others, like Pukaskwa National Park on the north shore of Lake Superior, sea kayakers are warned to plan to be shore-bound at least one day out of three.
Camping
The biggest issue with camping in winds is the risk of your tent collapsing, or maybe even blowing away. You can minimize this risk by ensuring that your tent is well staked down or, if you can't securely stake it down, tie a couple of the tent stake-down loops to trees. Setting up on the lee side of large, secure wind obstructions can also help, but avoid setting up right against rock cliffs, as things can occasionally be blown off cliffs. Sleeping against the up-wind side of the tent can also help prevent the wind from getting under your tent and ripping out the stakes.
The other risk in camping in strong winds is the risk of branches falling on your tent. Look up before you set up.
Predicting The Wind
In many areas, especially around large bodies of water, wind generally follows predictable patterns. Normally, wind speeds peak mid to late afternoon. Wind speed is normally calmest in early morning. This can be used to your advantage, planning large, open-water crossings first thing in the morning, with the more sheltered parts of your travel, or even short hikes in the middle of your kayaking trips, planned for mid-day.
Cold fronts will also usually bring in strong winds. If the temperature starts to drop quickly, or the barometer starts to drop, you can expect the wind will pick up.
Where possible, checking a weather forecast, and even having some weather forecasting skills of your own, can also help a great deal in predicting wind intensity.
