Whirlwind in the Hay Field #5

by J McCombie

Title

Whirlwind in the Hay Field #5

Artist

J McCombie

Medium

Photograph - Untouched

Description

The farmer had cut his hay, raked it and had begun baling, when it rained the following day. So he raked the hay a second time and came out to the field the following sunny morning to check to see if it was dry enough to continue baling. Before he could return to the field with his baler, the whirlwind swept through the field travelling from right to left, touching down on a couple of diagonal paths and disturbing his neat windrows. Upon his return with the baler, he had to call in his hired hand to return with the rake to make the windrows tidy again so he could continue to bale. He ended up having the rake, balers and haywagons on the field at the same time in order to beat the next forecast rain.
A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and in any season.
Whirlwinds are subdivided into two main types, the great (or major) whirlwinds and the lesser (or minor) whirlwinds. The first category includes tornadoes, waterspouts, and landspouts. The range of atmospheric vortices constitute a continuum and are difficult to categorize definitively. Some lesser whirlwinds may sometimes form in a similar manner to greater whirlwinds with related increase in intensity. These intermediate types include the gustnado and the fire whirl. Other lesser whirlwinds include dust devils, as well as steam devils, snow devils, debris devils, leaf devils, and shear eddies such as the mountainado and eddy whirlwinds.
A major whirlwind (such as a tornado) is formed from supercell thunderstorms (the most powerful type of thunderstorm) or other powerful storms. When the storms start to spin, they react with other high altitude winds, causing a funnel to spin. A cloud forms over the funnel, making it visible. A minor whirlwind is created when local winds start to spin on the ground. This causes a funnel to form. The funnel moves over the ground, pushed by the winds that first formed it. The funnel picks up materials such as dust or snow as it moves over the ground, thus becoming visible.
Major whirlwinds last longer because they are formed from very powerful winds, and it is hard, though not impossible, to interrupt them. Minor whirlwinds are not as long-lived; the winds that form them do not last long, and when a minor whirlwind encounters an obstruction (a building, a house, a tree, etc.), its rotation is interrupted, as is the windflow into it, causing it to dissipate.

Uploaded

July 13th, 2014

Statistics

Viewed 122 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/20/2024 at 5:22 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags