6 days Ago By John Wheeler
FARGO — The months of April and May usually have the highest average daily wind speeds of any month of the year. The Red River Valley is one of the windiest places in the U.S.
for two basic reasons. Our location keeps us close to the Polar Jet Stream most of the year so there are plenty of fronts, highs and lows to give us an ever-present air-pressure gradient. Our flat and relatively treeless terrain offers little in the way of friction, so there is a near-constant forcing (pressure gradient) and without much to slow the wind down.
April and early May offer bare, black soil, which creates strong updrafts on warm afternoons, which tap into stronger winds aloft and some of that energy is brought down due to turbulence. As the crops gradually cover more and more of the dark soil, this thermal connection wanes, and the windy days become less frequent throughout the summer.]]>.
