The second quarter brought a welcome change to many areas that experienced below-average winds in the first quarter of 2013, especially in the northern hemisphere according to the Wind Trends Bulletin from AWS Truepower.
The western United States and Canada saw above-average winds after a relatively quiet first quarter, and winds off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic States were particularly strong. Winds were generally below normal relative to the long-term (1988 – 2012) average across Eastern Europe, southern Brazil, parts of central Africa, and much of Indonesia and Southern Australia. Winds were well above normal in northwest Canada, the eastern United States, the Caribbean, northern Brazil, Patagonia, northern Europe, the Mediterranean, South Africa, southern India, and portions of eastern China and Russia. The Arctic Oscillation (AO), which trended strongly negative in the first quarter, returned to slightly positive conditions in the second, shifting storm-tracks in Europe northward.