Comments on: Could Windmills Alter the Weather?

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:17:26 +0000

I am also a meteorologist and agree with Jack W. that the potential impact is overstated. The “weather” is a result of the earth’s atmosphere trying to correct energy imbalances (kinetic and latent) built up by differences in solar insolation over the earth’s surface. The sun and moisture are the drivers. The amount of energy in the atmosphere (again latent and kinetic) involved is huge (atomic bomb level of energy for a single supercell thunderstorm) compared to what is taken out by the wind turbines. And most of the energy in summer thunderstorms is driven by the release of latent heat from condensation in the storm, not the wind itself. So “stealing” some energy from the wind will have negligeable impact on the creation or sustainment of thunderstorms. Most changes would only noticeable on the micro-scale and will not impact the larger scale weather systems with any significance. As Amanda points out, there are many more man-made changes that would have a larger impact, such as deforestation (which also changes the surface albedo (reflectance of solar insolation) of large areas of land and the expansion of cities (heat island effects) than worrying about inconsequential energy loses from large numbers of wind turbines.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:36:02 +0000

Why are people worried about the disturbance of the wind? Who takes into account the billions of trees that have been cut down. I have been to Illinois where land with such rich soil has been virtually striped of trees so the farmers could plant two more rows of corn or soy, among other places for other reasons. Perhaps those trees slowed some wind down at some point so if the wind turbines slow it down… so what “That” is the way it was meant to be.

By: SEW

SEW — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:45:47 +0000

Even if the predictions were true, to suggest that people would put up with a large swath of wind turbines up and down the continent is ridiculous, so there is no point in suggesting this and then arguing against it. Nobody sane is suggesting that we replace all our energy generation with wind power. Instead most scientists and energy experts I’ve been reading have said we are going to have to use a number of different energy sources.

By: Jack Williamson

Jack Williamson — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:25:06 +0000

I am a meteorologist and wanted to let readers know that this article, while interesting, is the farthest thing from “true.”

99% of weather — in the sense of meteorology, weather forecasting, processes that create/affect weather — happens above 1,000 feet from the ground, from basically 850mb on up to 200mb. Wind currents on the ground account for a minutia of energies used in all processes of weather. The presence of wind mills will not affect the heat radiated from the ground due to solar insolation, so it’s not like convective processes (storms) are affected. Oceananically, the presence of even millions of wind mills would have an unmeasurable effect on “currents” and would have no effect no our lives on Earth.

What will have effect is the continued emittance of green house gases into our atmosphere from coal burning and oil consumption.

This “report” seems like something sponsored by Exxon.

By: Windmills and Weather « Cloudy and Cool

Windmills and Weather « Cloudy and Cool — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:27:39 +0000

[...] July 27, 2009 by pyeager Personally, I will be thrilled when we–as a nation and as a world–no longer need to depend on fossil fuels for many reasons, not just the concern about global warming; however, we need to ensure that any alternative energy sources we develop don’t further damage (or cause a different type of damage) to the earth. Wind energy seems innocent enough, so I was surprised to see this article on meteorologynews.com, stating that widespread use of windmills could alter the weather. [...]

By: Windmill Interference Causing Problems for Doppler Radar Signals | Meteorology News

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:25:44 +0000

[...] Doppler radar functions to detect atmospheric phenomena by sending out an electromagnetic signal and simultaneously “listening” for the signal to return if it is bounced off of an object. Many objects will reflect the radar beam, most notably rain droplets, ice crystals, and snowflakes. But as we reported earlier this year, doppler radar can also detect bats, birds, aircraft, surface traffic, and even tragedies like 9/11 and the Columbia disaster. They are even believed to have the potential to alter the weather. [...]

By: dave brandon

dave brandon — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:30:38 +0000

It is basic physics. Consider the butterfly effect. Energy removed by wind turbines will not go into thunderstorms, etc. I have suggested this to meteorologists for quite some time. As humans, it is not our position to try to control what God has initiated, but to adjust. As the cycles change, we must change. Take the blooming politics out of scientific decisions and quit the stupid hype of pushing uncertain theory as fact to fit political agendas. Most of the world and American population is ignorant in scientific matters, but they sure can be mislead by lies and fast talking politicians with teleprompters.

By: wind power

wind power — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:32:59 +0000

well yes they can create so much energy for sure.