114 mph wind gusts during Monday's blizzard?

[Mike Hollingshead]

http://www.nppd.com/Newsroom/NewsRelease.a...wsReleaseID=182

Ok, so it was on 2 different wind turbines 232 feet off the ground. 232 feet is not THAT high off the ground. Some objects I worked on here at the cargill plant are that height. I can't imagine being on them with 114 mph gusts.

From article:

“This week’s blizzard brought winds of more than 100 miles per hour,â€￾ said Chris Derickson, NPPD water systems/renewable energy resource leader. “Two turbines recorded wind gusts of 114 miles per hour, while another turbine recorded 100 mph gusts. That’s a hurricane on the plains.â€￾

These are just south of Ainsworth NE.

Thought this was really interesting.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Wow, that is impressive!! My brother was stuck in Burlington, CO for a day or so when they closed I-70. He heard reports of hurricane strength winds, but didn't give me any specific wind speeds.

I bet those turbines were cranking out some juice!!

Tim

 

[B Ozanne]

I bet those turbines were cranking out some juice!!

I thought my lights seemed brighter than normal during that storm. J/K

I'm sure those things are designed for winds like that, but it must have been a real test. As we all know design strength vs actual strength is always up in the air...pun intended. Hopefully, they weren't spinning. If they were, wind sheer would have ripped them apart.

 

[beaudodson]

They are shut down when the winds reach (I believe) 50 mph. They won't be cranking in 100 mph winds

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Originally posted by beaudodson
They are shut down when the winds reach (I believe) 50 mph. They won't be cranking in 100 mph winds

That's right. One of my professors is a former employee of WPS (Wisconsin Public Service), a major providor of renewable energy in Northeast Wisconsin. Wind turbines are shut down at 50 mph.