Here's a quiz: what's wrong with this picture of PSE's Wild Horse Wind Facility? (The answer is at the end of the blog). Every wonder why PSE builds wind facilities where we do? The obvious answer is that we put them where the wind is. Less obvious is, why does the wind blow in the places where it does?
That question is answered in great detail -- but also a way that's accessible to those of us without a Ph.D. after our name -- by Cliff Mass (who does happen to have a Ph.D. after his name) on his weather blog.
Cliff is a University of Washington professor who not only blogs about the weather, but is also familiar to listeners of KUOW FM here around the Puget Sound area and for writing his book, The Weather of the Pacific Northwest.
The short story on the wind in our area is that there's a difference in air pressure between western and eastern Washington driven by one side of the state having an ocean-influenced (or marine) climate and the other side having a land-influenced (or continental) climate. That difference is then amplified by the "squeeze" effect of our Cascade mountains.
The result is a lot of wind power putting more green energy on the grid.
And what's wrong with that picture? All those low clouds in the Kittitas Valley mean this photo, as beautiful as it is, was taken on one of those rare, calm days at PSE's Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility.
To visit Wild Horse, just drive 15 miles east of Ellensburg on the Vantage Highway.
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