Gone With The Wind

It rustles. It rocks us to sleep. It kicks up the surf. It whispers, howls, and screams like the banshees. This week we're talking about the wind. Where does it come from?
On a basic level, the wind is just air moving. But why? Osmosis- air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. You can test this yourself by blowing up a balloon, then letting go of the open end. Inside the balloon is more compact. The pressure of the incoming air presses against the balloon, making it expand. Once you let it open the high pressure air rushed out to where there is less pressure.

Low pressure following warm air (NOAA)

So what causes the pressure differences? Temperatures.
Warmer air rises and the molecules spread out. That motion causes an area of low pressure that other air moves in to fill, and we feel that as wind. Storms can cause greater differences in pressure, which leads to higher wind speeds. Hurricanes have extremely low pressure, which explains why they have such strong wind. here.

Wind moving in to fill a void left by warm air rising (NOAA)

Tornados are a whole other ball of wax, which we talked about
Now you know the science behind the wind. Next time it rattles your house or flies your life you'll have a greater understanding of what's going on.
This week's information comes from NOAA.