Wind Storm Feb 2009

If this keeps up, we'll have to designate the windstorms by month and year. We had another windstorm last night, an event rather identical to the one last September. This time, however, the winds howled all evening and night, finally stopping in the wee hours just before dawn.

I did not sleep well.

I can only imagine what it was like in the Dust Bowl, when the wind would howl like that for days. It's a steady roar, like the sound of a jet engine from the airplane terminal, but it never stops. It never pauses. One can only wonder where so much wind can come from.

But just before the wind hit, as the front was moving over us, I caught this picture. I am facing South in the photo, and the sun is setting. To the east, on the left, is the dark cloud cover brought by the approach of the front. To the west, on the right, is the clear sky and patches of cumulus clouds which follow the front. The gold is from the setting sun.