AWS Truepower has released the latest installment of its windTrends Bulletin, a quarterly analytical wind report. The report reviews wind patterns in the USA and Europe for the fourth quarter of 2010 based on AWS Truepower’s windTrends meteorological data set.
The report reveals that the majority of Europe continued to see relatively low wind speeds, with the most affected areas, Iceland, Ireland, the UK and the western coast of Scandinavia, experiencing average wind speeds ranging from 10% to 15% below normal. The British Isles saw the most dramatic deviations reaching 20% below normal in some areas. These patterns reflected a succession of high pressure systems over the British Isles, northern France, Germany and Scandinavia, which blocked or diverted the usual winter storms. Conversely, in the USA, near-neutral North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Pacific-North American (PNA) patterns, a strong La Niña - a negative El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - and a strong Bermuda high promoted windier-than-normal conditions for wind power plants throughout the Ohio River Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast regions. The “Pineapple Express”, an amplified subtropical Pacific jet stream originating near the Hawaiian Islands, aided in bringing above-normal wind speeds to much of the western USA. Data for this analysis came from AWS Truepower’s windTrends product, a validated database of weather conditions dating back to 1997.
The report reveals that the majority of Europe continued to see relatively low wind speeds, with the most affected areas, Iceland, Ireland, the UK and the western coast of Scandinavia, experiencing average wind speeds ranging from 10% to 15% below normal. The British Isles saw the most dramatic deviations reaching 20% below normal in some areas. These patterns reflected a succession of high pressure systems over the British Isles, northern France, Germany and Scandinavia, which blocked or diverted the usual winter storms. Conversely, in the USA, near-neutral North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Pacific-North American (PNA) patterns, a strong La Niña - a negative El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - and a strong Bermuda high promoted windier-than-normal conditions for wind power plants throughout the Ohio River Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast regions. The “Pineapple Express”, an amplified subtropical Pacific jet stream originating near the Hawaiian Islands, aided in bringing above-normal wind speeds to much of the western USA. Data for this analysis came from AWS Truepower’s windTrends product, a validated database of weather conditions dating back to 1997.