Wind power has made significant advances in efficiency and scale in recent years, but wind-turbines are still able to handle only one of many wind-speed categories.
Using a powerful supercomputer, weather forecasters divide the atmosphere up into an elaborate three-dimensional grid, assign initial values of pressure, wind-speed, humidity and so on, and then apply the laws of physics to see what happens next.
Those teams will also be allowed unlimited out-of-season track testing, with no restrictions on the scale and speed of wind-tunnel testing.
The wind gains strength from the thermal energy of the ocean, eventually condensing vapors and circulating air fast enough to form high-speed wind and heavy rain.
While the fires still threatened some 25, 000 homes, the burn rate in the region -- a measure made up of factors like wind speed, humidity and available fuel -- was significantly lower Thursday, a spokeswoman at the California Department of Forestry and Protection said.
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We used the Recovery Act to provide seed money that sparked private investment -- private investment in new industries like solar and wind, advanced batteries, high-efficiency lighting, high-speed rail.
Technology advances in the last few years have replaced older, faster-moving windmills with new, self-monitoring turbines whose 150-foot long blades adjust to wind direction and speed.
Given the likely direction of the new GOP-dominated House of Representatives in Washington, massive federal subsidies for the solar and wind industries, as well as such boondoggles as high-speed rail, are likely to be scaled back significantly.
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Early Sunday, New York officials issued a high-wind warning for the Tappan Zee Bridge, reducing the speed limit to 35 mph and prohibiting empty trailers and motorcycles on the bridge.
The buoys also contain weather-sensing devices that test for surface temperatures, subsurface temperatures, wind speed, and other indications of changing weather.
Web weather is entirely browser based, and you can bring it up in just the same way as on a smartphone -- confirm that your GPS is enabled, then head to Google.com and type "weather" -- you'll be rewarded with a 10-day forecast, complete with temp, precipitation, humidity and wind speed readouts.
The former president also favors government spending, on infrastructure, student loans, job training, manufacturing, broadband, high-speed rail, and development of alternative energy sources like biofuel, solar and wind.
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