Surely each of us has heard from the TV screens or from the speakers of the radio receivers the worn-out phrase: "A storm warning has been issued." Most people have an image in their heads: a dense rain curtain, 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, found themselves on the street.
But does everyone know what the nature and laws of this meteorological phenomenon are? Let's figure it out.
A storm (or storm) is called an extremely strong wind (or impressive sea waves). A storm warning is also issued when heavy snowfall is expected. This natural phenomenon can pose a danger to human life and the infrastructure of settlements. Power lines, structures made of glass and light metals, and green spaces are especially affected by the storm.
Big trouble is expected when a storm warning is issued in Moscow and other big cities with busy traffic. Winds and rains destroy ground rocks, because of which asph alt canliterally fall under cars. After storms, transport collapses and traffic paralysis in large areas are not uncommon.
American scientists have determined that in the 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 speeds up to sixty kilometers per hour, the storm gets its own name.
Meteorological scientists identify several reasons for the occurrence of a storm:
- cyclone (can be both tropical and other etiologies) passing through the territory;
- tornado, blood clot or tornado;
- local or frontal thunderstorm.
Wind speed during a storm exceeds twenty meters per second (measured near the surface of the earth). When it reaches thirty meters per second, the storm officially becomes a hurricane. If such an increase in speed is of a short-term nature, then the jumps are called flurries.
A storm warning is issued when meteorologists predict winds in excess of nine on the Beaufort scale. Intensity is also classified according to this scale:
- severe storm (ten Beaufort or up to 28.5 m/s);
- violent storm (beaufort eleven or up to 32.6 m/s).
Depending on the place where storms form, there are:
- tropical;
- subtropical;
- hurricane (Atlantic region);
- Typhoon (Pacific).
The most famous storms and their consequences
In 1824 St. Petersburg was completely flooded. As a result of strong winds and waves of water, the Neva and its channels overflowed their banks. A rise in water of 410 centimeters was recorded. It is noteworthy that the day before the storm, the weather deteriorated sharply, a storm warning was announced, but many residents ignored the warnings and went for a walk on the embankment.
In 1931, the densely populated Chinese city of Gaoyu and its environs were subjected to severe flooding. During the monsoon season, the Yellow River overflowed its banks. As a result, more than three hundred thousand hectares of land were under water. About forty million Chinese were left homeless. In some places, according to eyewitnesses, the water stood for about half a year.
