The windiest place in Russia, where the wind constantly blows. The most-most places on Earth

There are several places that are desperately fighting for the title of the windiest place on planet Earth. However, it turns out that nature is trying to keep some of its secrets, and wind is not so easy to measure, and the title of windiest place depends on the definition of “windy.”

Barrow Island

Located northwest of the coast of Australia, this small island experienced gusts of strong winds. In 1996, on April 10, the weather station recorded the strongest gust of wind in history, the speed of which reached 408 km per hour. This gust of wind came on the wings of Tropical Cyclone Olivia.

Tropical cyclones form when warm, moist air rises from the surface of seas and oceans. They are accompanied by heavy rainfall and storm-force winds. Tropical cyclones can long time maintain its strength only over large bodies of water, such as high seas and oceans. The islands are especially hard hit by such weather phenomena. Such a cyclone is called a typhoon in the northern hemisphere, and a hurricane over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Although Cyclone Olivia brought the strongest wind gust, it is still not the strongest cyclone. Typically, the strength of a cyclone is determined by the continuous strength of the wind. According to meteorological data, the champion was Typhoon Nancy, whose continuous wind force in 1961 reached 146 km per hour. Nancy caused the deaths of 170 people in Japan.

Still, cyclones are not champions in wind power. Even more destructive gusts occur during tornadoes and tornadoes. Thus, one of the windiest places in the world is located in the very center of the USA.

Oklahoma

A tornado, often called a tornado in Russian, is an air column that connects a thundercloud to the ground. According to many meteorologists, tornadoes are the most powerful and destructive of all. atmospheric vortices and storms.

This weather phenomenon, like tornadoes, can happen anywhere, but most often they appear in the United States. The southeastern states have even earned the title of "tornado alley." In 2011, the "alley" served as the scene for the formation of 207 individual tornadoes in a 24-hour period.

In 1999, on May 3, the highest speed of a tornado was recorded in the state of Oklahoma, reaching 486 km per hour.

Despite high speeds winds in a tornado, this weather phenomenon is usually relatively short-lived, however there is a place where you can encounter strong winds at any time of the year.

Southern Ocean

This is the conventional name for the waters of the three oceans - Indian, Pacific and Atlantic, which wash the shores of Antarctica. More and more often, experts are seeing the division of the world's oceans not into the usual four bodies of water, but into five, when they assign a separate role to the Southern Ocean.

Any traveler or explorer who has made circumnavigation, will tell you that the waters of the Southern Ocean are the most restless. Starting from 40° latitude, the winds become especially cruel and strong. Gusts are also intensified by the fact that air flows are not interrupted by continents and large islands. Thus, continuous wind force in the Southern Ocean can reach 160 km per hour.

Although this strength is enough to recognize Southern Ocean one of the windiest places, just south of the restless waters lies the continent, whose air currents earned it the title of the windiest 100 years ago.

Antarctica

The wind in Antarctica is unusual - it is called katabatic, or falling. Due to the shape of the continent, dense air currents flow down the icy slopes, making the wind not only strong, but also unusually cold.

The shape of the continent is very similar to a dome, the wind blows from the top towards coastline with a bias to the left due to the rotation of the Earth around its axis. The strength of wind gusts on the southernmost continent has been measured regularly since December 1913. The windiest hour in the history of Antarctica was July 6, 1913, when the force of the air currents reached a speed of 153 km per hour.

However, it is very difficult to measure the strength of katabatic winds, especially in Antarctica, where temperatures never rise above freezing. Firstly, strong air currents, due to their density, easily break equipment, and secondly, even if some measuring stations and poles remain intact, they often freeze.

September 14th, 2011

I bring to your attention a selection of the most unusual places on our planet, which are unique in their kind.

The title of the oldest place on Earth is claimed by several “laureates” located in Greenland, South Africa and Australia, but apparently the oldest stones on our planet are located in the Nuvvuagittug Greenstone Belt in Canada. According to research results, their age is about 4.28 billion years, which dates back to the Azoi era, when earth's surface It had just begun to cool down and was constantly under meteorite bombardment. It seems that celestial body the size of Mars collided with the Earth and its fragments later formed the Moon, and some of them remained on Earth.

In addition, the title oldest stones may challenge samples returned from the Moon by members of the Apollo 15 crew. These rocks and sand are up to 4.5 billion years old and appear to be fragments of the ancient crust of our satellite.

It can be assumed that the most rainy place on Earth is in humid tropical forests, and it's true - the Colombian province of Choco on the border with Panama is considered the wettest place on the planet. For example, in 1974, more than 26 METERS of rain fell in the city of Tutunendo, and on average this city receives about 12 meters of precipitation, that is, more than three centimeters every day, and most of the rain falls at night. Rice probably grows well there... Yes, and another record holder is a mountain called Wai-ale-ale on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian archipelago. In the vicinity of this mountain there are an average of 15 RAINY days per year, that is, 350 days per year it's raining. Remember this when you choose a trip to “sunny Hawaii” from a travel agency.

The snowiest place

The heaviest snowfalls occur in mountainous areas, where mountains deflect humid air upward where it reaches the condensation point. In addition, sometimes heavy snowfalls are observed in completely unexpected places. For example, on February 14, 1927, researchers measured the thickness of snowfall on the Japanese Mount Ibuki and found almost 12 meters. Cascade Mountains to the west North America are also considered “snow” champions. For example, in 1971-72, the thickness of snow on the slope of Mount Rainier was 28.5 meters, but in 1998-99 this record was broken. During a snowfall on the Mount Baker ski slope, the snow thickness reached 29 meters. It is clear that the snow making machines could rest that winter.

If so large number snow falls in the mountains, this only gives skiers a thrill, but if heavy snowfall covers the city, then the entire infrastructure is paralyzed. The photo shows residents of one of the Russian cities struggling with the consequences of heavy snowfall.

The driest place

The Chilean Atacama Desert in its better days can't brag a large number precipitation, let alone dry periods. According to weather forecasters, in the Chilean city of Arica not a single rain was recorded for the period from October 1903 to January 1918, that is, for more than 15 years! In this climate, some areas of this cruel desert resemble the surface of Mars, and are very, very dangerous for humans and any living creatures in general.

Commonwealth Bay is officially recognized in the Guinness Book of Records and the eighth edition of the National Geographic atlas as the windiest place on Earth. Moreover, it is located in Antarctica, so forget about short-term gusts of wind, here the wind constantly blows at a speed of 240 kilometers per hour.

Australian Antarctic explorer Douglas Mauson established the first permanent base near this inhospitable place in 1912. This apparently happened on one of those rare days when the wind died down a little, otherwise I can’t imagine what could have been done in such a hurricane.

In the northern hemisphere, the windiest place is Cape Blanco in the southwest American state Oregon. It is the westernmost point of Oregon and the continental United States, and periodically experiences storms with winds hitting land at speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour.

The flattest place

The Bolivian Salar de Uyuni Valley was formed from several prehistoric lakes that merged and subsequently dried up. At this place there is now an even layer of salt about a meter thick, with a total area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers. In addition to tourism, this salty desert is of even greater industrial value, because the salty “cushion” covering the valley contains up to 70% of all the world’s lithium reserves.

Usually this place is dry and arid, but every year in November it rains here, after which flocks appear pink flamingos feeding on red algae growing in warm salty water. At this time, the surface becomes not just flat, but mirror-like, and it is used to adjust the altitude of artificial Earth satellites.

Located in politically unstable Abkhazia, the Crow Cave reaches a depth of 2191 meters, penetrating the limestone massif to layers that were formed in the age of dinosaurs. Its second name is Krubera Cave, named after the Russian geographer Alexander Kruber. The cave was discovered in 1960 and easily “bypassed” the Austrian cave Lamprechtsofen, being considered in our time the first and so far the only cave whose depth exceeds 2000 meters.

The main credit for the deep exploration of the Crow Cave rightfully belongs to a group of Ukrainian speleologists who have repeatedly set records for deep “immersion” in this and other earthly cracks since the 1980s. The modern record of 2191 meters belongs to the same association of speleologists and was set in 2007. Apparently, this is not the final depth, and the Crow Cave extends even deeper.

The pole of inaccessibility is a point on the surface of the earth from which the distance to the nearest oceans is maximum, and it exists on every continent. The most inaccessible place among all inaccessible places is in Antarctica.

At this global pole of inaccessibility, a group of Soviet polar explorers installed a bust of Lenin on a pedestal, with the leader looking towards Moscow. In addition, at the base of the bust there is a visitor register where anyone can leave their entry. I think there are very few records there, and the bust itself is definitely not threatened by pigeons, so it stands and will stand...

Most remote island

The uninhabited volcanic island of Bouvet, located in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is considered the most remote point from all other inhabited places. It is the property of Norway, to the nearest land (Antarctica) 1600 kilometers to the south, to the nearest inhabited island (Tristan da Cunha) - 2260 kilometers, to the nearest inhabited continent ( South Africa) - 2580 kilometers to the northeast. Interesting fact: Bouvet Island was used as a setting during the filming of the film “Alien vs. Predator” in 2004, and in addition, it has its own Internet prefix for websites - .bv, which is not yet used.

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I bring to your attention a selection of the most unusual places on our planet, which are unique in their kind.

Oldest place
The title of the oldest place on Earth is claimed by several “laureates” located in Greenland, South Africa and Australia, but apparently the oldest stones on our planet are located in the Nuvvuagittug Greenstone Belt in Canada. Their age, according to research results, is about 4.28 billion years, which dates back to the Azoi era, when the earth's surface had just begun to cool and was constantly under meteorite bombardment. It seems that a celestial body the size of Mars collided with the Earth and its debris then formed the Moon, and some of it remained on Earth.

In addition, the title of the oldest stones can be challenged by samples brought from the Moon by members of the Apollo 15 crew. These stones and sand are up to 4.5 billion years old, and apparently are fragments of the ancient crust of our satellite.

The rainiest place
You might assume that the rainiest place on Earth is in the tropical rainforests, and that's true - the Colombian province of Choco, on the border with Panama, is considered the wettest place on the planet. For example, in 1974, more than 26 METERS of rain fell in the city of Tutunendo, and on average this city receives about 12 meters of precipitation, that is, more than three centimeters every day, and most of the rain falls at night. Rice probably grows well there... Yes, and another record holder is a mountain called Wai-ale-ale on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian archipelago. In the vicinity of this mountain there are an average of 15 RAINY days per year, that is, 350 days per year it rains. Remember this when you choose a trip to “sunny Hawaii” from a travel agency.

The snowiest place
The heaviest snowfalls occur in mountainous areas, where the mountains deflect moist air upward where it reaches the condensation point. In addition, sometimes heavy snowfalls are observed in completely unexpected places. For example, on February 14, 1927, researchers measured the thickness of snowfall on the Japanese Mount Ibuki and found almost 12 meters. The Cascade Mountains in western North America are also considered snow champions. For example, in 1971-72, the thickness of snow on the slope of Mount Rainier was 28.5 meters, but in 1998-99 this record was broken. During a snowfall on the Mount Baker ski slope, the snow thickness reached 29 meters. It is clear that the snow making machines could rest that winter.

If such a large amount of snow falls in the mountains, it only adds to the thrill of skiers, but if heavy snowfall covers the city, then the entire infrastructure is paralyzed. The photo shows residents of one of the Russian cities struggling with the consequences of heavy snowfall.

The driest place
The Chilean Atacama Desert on its best days does not boast much rainfall, let alone dry periods. According to weather forecasters, in the Chilean city of Arica not a single rain was recorded for the period from October 1903 to January 1918, that is, for more than 15 years! In this climate, some areas of this cruel desert resemble the surface of Mars, and are very, very dangerous for humans and any living creatures in general.

Windiest place
Commonwealth Bay is officially recognized in the Guinness Book of Records and the eighth edition of the National Geographic atlas as the windiest place on Earth. Moreover, it is located in Antarctica, so forget about short-term gusts of wind, here the wind constantly blows at a speed of 240 kilometers per hour.

Australian Antarctic explorer Douglas Mauson established the first permanent base near this inhospitable place in 1912. This apparently happened on one of those rare days when the wind died down a little, otherwise I can’t imagine what could have been done in such a hurricane.

In the northern hemisphere, the windiest place is Cape Blanco in the southwest of the US state of Oregon. It is the westernmost point of Oregon and the continental United States, and periodically experiences storms with winds hitting land at speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour.

The flattest place
The Bolivian Salar de Uyuni Valley was formed from several prehistoric lakes that merged and subsequently dried up. At this place there is now an even layer of salt about a meter thick, with a total area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers. In addition to tourism, this salty desert is of even greater industrial value, because the salty “cushion” covering the valley contains up to 70% of all the world’s lithium reserves.

Usually this place is dry and arid, but every year in November it rains, after which flocks of pink flamingos appear, feeding on the red algae that grows in the warm salty water. At this time, the surface becomes not just flat, but mirror-like, and it is used to adjust the altitude of artificial Earth satellites.

Deepest cave
Located in politically unstable Abkhazia, the Crow Cave reaches a depth of 2191 meters, penetrating the limestone massif to layers that were formed in the age of dinosaurs. Its second name is Krubera Cave, named after the Russian geographer Alexander Kruber. The cave was discovered in 1960 and easily “bypassed” the Austrian cave Lamprechtsofen, being considered in our time the first and so far the only cave whose depth exceeds 2000 meters.

The main credit for the deep exploration of the Crow Cave rightfully belongs to a group of Ukrainian speleologists who have repeatedly set records for deep “immersion” in this and other earthly cracks since the 1980s. The modern record of 2191 meters belongs to the same association of speleologists and was set in 2007. Apparently, this is not the final depth, and the Crow Cave extends even deeper.

Most remote place
The pole of inaccessibility is a point on the surface of the earth from which the distance to the nearest oceans is maximum, and it exists on every continent. The most inaccessible place among all inaccessible places is in Antarctica.

At this global pole of inaccessibility, a group of Soviet polar explorers installed a bust of Lenin on a pedestal, with the leader looking towards Moscow. In addition, at the base of the bust there is a visitor register where anyone can leave their entry. I think there are very few records there, and the bust itself is definitely not threatened by pigeons, so it stands and will stand...

Most remote island
The uninhabited volcanic island of Bouvet, located in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is considered the most remote point from all other inhabited places. It is the property of Norway, to the nearest land (Antarctica) 1600 kilometers to the south, to the nearest inhabited island (Tristan da Cunha) - 2260 kilometers, to the nearest inhabited continent (South Africa) - 2580 kilometers to the northeast. Interesting fact: Bouvet Island was used as a set for the filming of the film “Alien vs. Predator” in 2004, and in addition, it has its own Internet prefix for websites - .bv, which is not yet used.

The wind, especially when it gains considerable strength, can not only dishevel hair or tear out human hands any thing, but also to destroy strong structures with its influence, tear off the roofs from them. If you go to the windiest place on earth, you can get such an impact, which creates considerable discomfort due to the piercing cold present in addition to the wind force.

The latter is not surprising, because, if you believe the entries in the Guinness Book of Records and the corresponding comments in one of latest editions according to the atlas published by National Geographic, the windiest place in the world is located on the coldest continent on the planet - Antarctica. Such an inhospitable place is located in the eastern part of the above-mentioned continent, and specifically - the Coast of George V, considered part of the so-called Victoria Land. Specifically, the local Commonwealth Bay is considered the windiest on the planet, permanently blown by winds whose speed extremely rarely drops to at least 200 km/h, and on average reaches about 240 km/h.

These lands covered with eternal glaciers were discovered just over a century ago by an expedition led by the Anglo-Australian Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson. It was his team in 1911-1914 that for the first time in history explored these places and even founded the first stationary base in the windiest place - above the Commonwealth - in the now distant 1912. How does this brave people It was possible to accomplish such a task, but it remains a mystery - perhaps in those days the winds favored the researchers and made it possible to install all the structures necessary to create the station.

By the way, the presence in this area of ​​piercing hurricane winds is determined in many respects by its relief, including the special arrangement of rocks, and the gradient of the surface of the mountains and ice enhances the air flows. That's why there are constant wind blowers over the Commonwealth, i.e. falling from steep rocky slopes, winds intensified by concentrated freezing air currents, which in some cases leads to record speeds of up to 320 km/h.

By the way, even higher wind speeds were officially recorded in another corner of the planet - Mount Washington, located in the American New Hampshire, at the top of which an observatory has long been located. It was thanks to the instruments of this scientific institution that in 1934 it was possible to make measurements that showed: the local winds, always famous for their considerable speed, on that day, April 12, surpassed themselves and reached as much as 372 km/h.

By the way, on Washington - a mountain called by the indigenous population of Agiokochuk, strong winds are by no means uncommon - old-timers and researchers of the above-mentioned observatory note that indicators of the order of 115-117 km/h are considered here to be a kind of light breeze.

Much on the aforementioned mountain, which reaches a height of almost two kilometers, is reminiscent of the windy Commonwealth in terms of climate: the snow also does not melt here, and such conditions, coupled with piercing winds, make such a place extremely uncomfortable for people.

The double death of the Mongol Armada during a storm during an attack on Japan is not the only story where the wind determined the outcome of the battle. History also knows the “Protestant Wind”, which served for the benefit of Protestants. In 1588, a storm delayed and significantly damaged the ships of the Spanish "Invincible Armada", heading to the shores of England. This ultimately led to the defeat of the Spanish and the establishment of English naval dominance. And exactly 100 years later, the “same” Protestant wind did not give the English ships of the Catholic King James II the opportunity to leave the harbor, which helped William III of Orange, a Protestant, land in England and conquer it.

The origin of the word “ensign” is curious. This military rank appeared in the Russian army by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1649: this was the name of the standard bearers (in Church Slavonic, “ensign” is a banner), appointed from among the most courageous warriors. Until the 18th century in Russia, the word "prapor" was also used to refer to a weather vane, a device for determining the direction of the wind.

4. The fastest wind

The highest wind gust speed on Earth (at a standard height of 10 m) was recorded automatically meteorological station on the Australian island of Barrow during Cyclone Olivia on April 10, 1996. It was 408 km/h. Surprisingly, this record was only recorded in 2010 after a panel of experts from the World Meteorological Organization reviewed a number of old data. The previous record was set on April 12, 1934 on Mount Washington in New Hampshire (USA) - 372 km/h.

5. The windiest place

The windiest place on Earth is the Commonwealth Sea (near Antarctica). The fastest constant winds blow here, the speed of which reaches 320 km/h.

6. Colored rain

Sometimes in Europe it rains red or brown which are considered a bad omen. They were considered inexplicable natural phenomenon. However, scientists have recently determined that their cause is sandstorms in the Sahara Desert. Colored rain is formed when a huge column of dust brought in from the Sahara meets a storm system. If precipitation passes through a dust plume below cloud level, the rain becomes colored.

Dust from the Sahara reaches not only European cities, but is also transported across Atlantic Ocean and settles in America. Components of this dust are found in soils from Florida to Brazil. Thanks to the wind, even before the advent of aviation, many distant countries were connected to each other in a certain natural way. And about the appearance sandstorm in the Sahara, the Indians of Brazil could judge by the pinkish tint of raindrops.

7. Sensitive cockroaches

Cockroaches are able to sense the slightest changes in the wind as a result of the approach of a predator, such as a toad. Their cerci (paired appendages of the last abdominal segment) are extremely sensitive to wind, and help them stay alive in about half of the cases.

8. The windiest place in Russia

The highest wind speed in Russia was recorded on Kharlov Island in the Barents Sea on February 8, 1986 - 187 km/h. There are several places where the strongest are observed constant winds. Among them are Chukotka Pevek, Cape Taigonos on the peninsula of the same name in the Magadan region and some others.

9. Wind power

As of the end of 2010, the total capacity of all wind turbines in the world is 196.6 gigawatts. At the same time, the amount of electricity produced by all wind generators in the world in 2010 was 430 terawatt-hours. This is approximately 2.5% of total number electricity produced by humanity each year. At the same time, some countries are intensively developing wind energy and, for example, in Portugal wind generators generate 19% of electricity, and in Spain - 16%. World leader in interest deposit wind energy in the total energy sector - Denmark with 28%. By the way, it was in Denmark that the first windmills producing electricity were invented, and in 1890 the world's first wind power station was built here.

In Russia, wind energy is not yet held in high esteem. Every year, Russian wind generators generate no more than 8.5 terawatt-hours of electricity - less than 1% of the total electricity production in our country.