This question has been asked, but people say it doesn’t and “the calm before the storm” is just a figure of speech.
I live in a little town thats known by locals for its never-ending gusty winds. Winds that *will* tear up anything not solid and/or bolted to the ground. Usually in the summer, right before we are to get a thunderstorm, the wind stops. Its almost creepy outside for the lack of any wind whatsoever. Then, few hours will pass and we get hit with gusts so strong that they will knock you off balance, which brings in the storm.
What causes this stillness in the air?
In: Earth Science
I recently moved to place thats windy, so it prompted me to look more into wind and what causes it.
Wind is a sucking action, not a blowing action. As a kid, you imagine a giant fan blowing air to make the wind. Warm air rises, and creates low pressure under it, so higher pressure air is sucked into the space below. Think when a door opens on a spacecraft in a science fiction movie. The greater the pressure difference, the higher the wind speed.
Storms are low pressure systems, so that in turn means air is rushing towards it, generally out of your specific area, just before the storm hits, as opposed to air rushing through your area.
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