We just had a hell of a storm blow through Central Alabama on Sunday. As of this
morning I still am without power. The large and beautiful pine that shaded the
west side of my house is now laying on the ground. like it layed down for
a tree nap. We built our house in 1988, and that tree was waiting for a family.
It had many a pinata knocked down, and the kids tire swing. That tree was like
part of the family.
Sunday night I woke up to some of the most intense winds, It sounded like
a gale or hurricane out there. I could hear the walls creaking, and thought
gee, maybe I better bail and hit the basement, in case the house blows
away.
The strangest part of the whole storm, were the winds. They ebbed and flowed, in a strong
circular pattern. Normally reserved for the ever common tornado which is a regular occurance
in Alabama. But this was something totally different. When we switched on the TV the news
was calling this "A Gravity Wave Wind"
I have never heard of this in my life. And the 30 years I have lived here, this has never
happended before. So I was curious, what is this gravity wave wind thing. I had to go
check it out.
In fluid dynamics, gravity waves are waves generated in a fluid medium or at the interface between two media (e.g. the atmosphere and the ocean) which has the restoring force of gravity or buoyancy.
When a fluid element is displaced on an interface or internally to a region with a different density, gravity tries to restore the parcel toward equilibrium resulting in an oscillation about the equilibrium state or wave orbit. Gravity waves on an air-sea interface are called surface gravity waves or surface waves while internal gravity waves are called internal waves. Wind-generated waves on the water surface are examples of gravity waves, and tsunamis and ocean tides are others.
Wind-generated gravity waves on the free surface of the Earth's ponds, lakes, seas and oceans have a period of between 0.3 and 30 seconds (3 Hz to 0.033 Hz). Shorter waves are also affected by surface tension and are called gravity-capillary waves and (if hardly influenced by gravity) capillary waves. Alternatively, so-called infragravity waves — which are due to subharmonic nonlinear wave interaction with the wind waves — have periods longer than the accompanying wind-generated waves.
Weird, gravity waves form over water it seems, but Alabama is a land mass, so it seems really
odd that this happened here. I wondered if it had something to do with the whole global warming
issue, since this is the first time we have had this kind of wind here.
It was like a ocean of wind, huge ebbs and flows, and the trees were waving in a scary
circular motion, really looked more like tornados, but it just blew the shit out of everything.
That is why I have a backup generator, when you lose the power, it is off for days.
For more on the Gravity Wave Wind, check out this
link.and here is anotherlink
When I went to check on my horses the next morning, they were freaked, the little mini had
a twig hanging off his tail. There where tree limbs all over their pasture. I think they may
of got bonked on the head a few times. No wonder they were nervous, and it looks like they
tried to push the gate over, to get the hell out of the pasture. Even in their stalls there
was a broken light, looks like the wind blew right through the barn. It was definitely freaky,
and now the west side of my house looks naked, since the lovely tree is on the ground.
And of course my home owners will not pay for the cutting up of the tree, unless it
had fallen on my house. I was thinking of getting a crane and picking it up and throwing
it on the roof of the house. There Allstate, the fuckers on the house, now cut it up.
And 2 days later, still here without the power. The bright side, it is going to be a lovely
day. But that tree is going to cost me $750 to remove it from the yard. Then I am gonna
plant the hardiest and largest apple tree I can find. At least I can get some fruit in
the future. Also I vowed not to plant another tree, unless it could bear fruit or nuts.
At least I won't hurt my feet on the pinecones any more, and eventually when the
apple tree blooms, and has apples, it will provide nurishment for my family, the
bees, and my horses.