Winds and Storms
The prevailing wind direction is easterly. Westerlies are very infrequent. Generally speaking, wind speeds tend to be higher in the highlands, but topographical features can aggravate winds and cause strong gusts in lowland areas. Wind speed frequently reaches 18 m/s (59 ft/s) ; on stormy days it averages 50 m/s (164 ft/s). Heavy dust storms can be generated by strong glacial winds, and can be very strong. Up to 10 t (9.8 long tons; 11.0 short tons) of material can be in motion per transect per hour. These storms are very frequent in the early summer in the arid highland areas north of the Vatnajökull glacier.
Thunderstorms are extremely rare in Iceland, with fewer than five storms per year in the southern part of the island. They are most common in late summertime. They can be caused by warm air masses coming up from the continent, or deep lows from the southwest in wintertime. Lightning can usually be observed in connection with ash plumes erupting from the island’s volcanoes.
Read more about this topic: Climate Of Iceland
Famous quotes containing the words winds and/or storms:
“The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne
Burned on the water. The poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were love-sick with them. The oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)