Surely each of us has heard the erased phrase from the TV screens or from the speakers of the radio receivers: "A storm warning has been announced." In the head of the majority, an image arises: a dense rainstorm, now and then torn by the wind, trees bent before the force of the elements and a couple of unlucky passers-by who, by the will of fate, find themselves on the street.
But does everyone know what the nature and laws of this meteorological phenomenon are? Let's get it right.
A storm (or a storm) is called an extremely strong wind (or an impressive wave at sea). A storm warning is also announced when heavy snowfall is expected. This natural phenomenon can be a danger to human life and the infrastructure of human settlements. Power lines, structures made of glass and light metals, as well as green spaces are especially affected during the storm.
Big troubles are expected when a storm warning is announced in Moscow and other large cities with busy traffic. Winds and rains destroy soil rocks, as a result of which asphalt can literally fail under cars. After storms, traffic collapses and paralysis of movement in large areas are frequent.
American scientists have found that in northern latitudes, a storm warning should be issued when the wind speed reaches thirty-five miles per hour (or fifty-six kilometers).
When the wind develops a speed of sixty kilometers per hour, the storm gets its own name.
Scientists meteorologists identify several reasons for the storm:
- cyclone (may be either tropical or other etiology) passing through the territory;
- tornado, blood clot or tornado;
- local or frontal thunderstorm.
Wind speed during a storm exceeds twenty meters per second (when measured at the surface of the earth). When the indicator reaches thirty meters per second, the storm officially passes into the category of “hurricane”. If such an increase in speed is of a short-term nature, then the jumps are called squalls.
A storm warning is issued when meteorologists predict a wind speed in excess of nine points on the Beaufort scale. Also, on this scale, the intensity is classified:
- severe storm (ten points according to Beaufort or up to 28.5 m / s);
- severe storm (eleven points according to Beaufort or up to 32.6 m / s).
Depending on the place of formation of the storm there are:
- tropical;
- subtropical;
- hurricane (area of the Atlantic Ocean);
- typhoon (Pacific).
The most famous storms and their consequences
In 1824, St. Petersburg was completely flooded. As a result of the strongest wind and unrest, the Neva and its canals overflowed the shores. A rise of 410 centimeters was recorded. It is noteworthy that even the day before the storm of the elements, the weather sharply worsened, a storm warning was announced, but many residents neglected the warnings and went for a walk on the embankment.
In 1931, the densely populated Chinese city of Gaoi and its environs was severely flooded. In the monsoon season, the Yellow River overflowed the banks. As a result, more than three hundred thousand hectares of land was under water. About forty million Chinese were left without a roof. In some places, according to eyewitnesses, the water stood still for about six months.
