Winter wind

[boreality]

Just had an all day Saskatchewan Screamer with winds over 100kmh. The spruce were shedding their branches like west coast fir. In the summer the stems will break before branches are shed. The wind followed a month below -30. I guess they were frozen stiff.

 

[oceans]

Did they tear out at the collar, leaving a divot in the branch protection zone...sort of like a socket, or mostly inter-nodal breaks?

 

[Adkpk]

I was walking to my car the other day. The wind was really whirling. I was thinking maybe go back in and dress more warmly. I got in my car and shut the door and I was warm. The wind in winter is a factor. Don't be fooled.

 

[boreality]

I suppose it wasn't quite like west coast fir that break near their attachment. These breaks were branchlets (new word) not many breaks near the collar. A wind like that would of normally downed a lot of trees.

I just found it interesting that we think tree's strength is to bend and not break. But here being frozen stiff added strength. A little higher wind and they'd break like glass.

We always get a wind chill forecast here. -30 feels like -50 is how they report it. I used to disregard wind chill even after growing up skiing on these bumps on the prairie 7 nights a week til my toes felt like they were on fire. But now with tree climbing I disregard the thermometer. Plans are to climb in 50k winds today on a lakeshore. Brrr.