McBride can be a very windy place in the fall, as Pacific Ocean weather systems buffet BC. One of the best places to experience the winds is McBride’s air field. I know this because we often go there to walk our dog, up and down the runway.
Yesterday, was unusually warm for October (probably close to 20C, 68F), and the wind was ripping at our house, so we knew what we were in store for, as we drove to the airport. Once we got out on the tarmac, it was hard to hear with the roar of the wind in our ears, and I sometimes was pushed in unexpected directions by strong gusts. The orange windsocks, located on both sides of the runway were out stretched, rigidly stiff with the wind. With the wind at our back, we got to the end of the runway in quicktime, turning around to make the trip back to the truck, was another story. We had to lean into the wind to make headway. I finally just took off my hat, because it was too much of an effort to try to keep it on my head.
The puzzling thing about all of the wind we were experiencing, was that it was just on the runway. We glanced over to the airfield’s wind generator which sits just 100m away from the landing strip, and noticed that it was still, or occasionally moving just a bit. Once we walked over to the hangers, the wind dropped off for us too.
The wind does act very much like a river, fast currents flowing in one place while nearby, very calm. Of course, they couldn’t locate the wind generator right beside the tarmac due to safety rules, but it is too bad it isn’t closer to the middle of the river of wind that sweeps down the runway. It could sure generate a whole lot more power.
You can view my paintings at: www.davidmarchant.ca
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