We were on holiday at the coast and it was howling a gale for hours.
We had become accustomed to the racket it was making, the stuff blowing past the windows, holding on to the door if you opened it, even a crack. Then it was gone. Didn’t even seem to die down.
So where had it gone?
Well you know the phrase “Nature abhors a vacuum“, that’s kinda what’s behind the wind. If you can remember that, and remember that warm air rises, then you’ve got wind sewn up.
If apiece of land warms up, the air in contact with it warms too. That air then rises, but we can’t have a vacuum, so new air has to rush in to take its place. that rush is the wind.
If you’re on the coast, then you’re also where warm and cold do battle the most, because land and sea change temperature at very different speeds, so on a warm evening there’s usually at least a breeze coming off the sea, replacing the air over the land that has heated up during the day and risen.
All sorts of things slow the wind, though imperceptibly. Each thing the wind comes into contact with will create a little friction, and the energy that is lost from the wind’s motion is replaced by a small amount of heat – because we also need to remember that energy cannot be destroyed.
Wind? All a load of hot air!