Wind advisory day ICYMI: Oklahoma ranks in top 10; Meteorologist Kirsten Lang explains why

This column from Tulsa World's meteorologist published Wednesday:

At the southern tip of the Plains, our state gets its fair share of windy days. So much, in fact, that Oklahoma is one of the 10 windiest states in the country. Right now, we are in the windiest month of the year on average.

So what is it about our geographic location that causes this, and how does wind actually form?

The Earth is in constant balance, and the same can be said for air pressure. A state of equilibrium is always trying to be achieved, whether on a large or small scale.

A small scale would be opening your soda can and hearing the fizz as air rushes out of the can. This is because the pressure inside the can is higher than the pressure outside. A large-scale example would be the atmospheric pressure and high and low systems that move across the country.

So let’s start there. When it comes to weather systems moving across the country, you have high atmospheric pressure and low atmospheric pressure. With low pressure you generally have rising air, and with high pressure you have sinking air. So what does this mean?

The sinking air in a high pressure system will move down, but this forces the air at the surface to move up and out toward the area of low pressure, which has rising air at the surface. Again, this is the attempt to achieve equilibrium and constantly filling any void that may be occurring from rising or sinking air. So, in short, air will always flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.

When you have a weak high- or low-pressure system, the winds around those systems are typically weak as well, but when you have a strong high-pressure system, or a strong low-pressure system, of course you can guess — winds will be much stronger, too.

The best way to think of this is a strong cold front moving across the Plains. The uneven balance between the strong temperature gradient in the cold front will cause stronger winds ahead of and behind the frontal passage.

This explains why Oklahoma and other Plains states may see stronger winds than other areas of the country. Due to our geographic location in the center of the country, we see a greater impact from these strong systems that trek right along the jet stream, which nestles itself nicely in our region this time of year.

On a smaller scale than cold fronts is also the uneven heating of the soil and water. This causes sea breezes. At the surface, the sun will heat the ground or soil at a quicker rate than the water, so the air from the hot soil will rise. Warm air spreads outward and upward. That void will be filled with the cooler air from over the water.

Cooler air is more compact and dense. Therefore, the cooler air will move toward the warmer land to fill that void.

In return, you discover what is similar to a mini high and low pressure system, with the high pressure being the water and the low pressure being the land. And as I mentioned before, air always moves from high to low pressure, so a sea breeze will blow from the water onto the land.

So next time you feel the winds blow in Oklahoma, know it is a lot more than just a nuisance. It’s Earth’s way of stabilizing itself.