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Disclaimer:
This site is provided for informational
purposes only. The information here is not intended to diagnose
or treat any condition, and should not replace the care and attention
of qualified medical personnel. Use the information on these pages
at your own risk, and, as with any information pertaining to health,
nutrition, mental health, or fitness, consult your physician before making any
changes that might affect your overall health.
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High
Altitude Winds
We joke in Medicine
Bow that a breeze is categorized as "anything that doesn't
uproot trees". Sometimes it feels like it isn't far from
the truth!
 We
hear whistling, howling, screaming, and groaning as the wind
swirls around the house. It catches anything that protrudes
and works it and worries it until it comes loose. Shingles
need perpetual replacement and repair, and gutters regularly
need re-anchored. Tree branches frequently break off and fly
into whatever happens to be in the direction the wind is blowing.
And
then there are wind storms, where it REALLY blows! We hear
the very frame of the house protesting at the task of standing
in the face of it. The windows in the livingroom actually
flex inward as the wind hits them full on. Rain and hail can
come down with such driving force that you are sure they have
to penetrate the walls and make a direct attack. If you are
driving on the road during a windstorm, you slow down to 50,
and hold on tight - very tight, to keep the slamming wind
from pushing your car right off the road.
In
the winter, the wind takes the snow and turns it into a billowing
fog that you cannot see through. You creep along the roads
from delineator post to delineator post, hoping you don't
go off in between.
Styling
your hair is a waste of time. Step outside to go to the car,
and the wind will lift the hair on your head straight up,
and then whip it around contrary to whatever direction you
had combed it. We joke out here that men don't go bald...
the wind just blows their hair off. For women, every day is
a bad hair day - no hairspray in the world is strong enough
to glue your hair down in high winds!
Winds
are more fierce at high altitudes, and no one will disagree
with that. In many higher altitude areas there are no trees
to slow it down, so the wind just gathers itself up and has
its way.
Most
people who move up to a windy area complain that the wind
will surely drive them crazy. But it doesn't. After a month
or two, they learn to adjust to it, and life goes on pretty
much as it always did.
If
you are traveling in high altitude areas, please be prepared
with a heavier jacket than you think you need, and a lightweight
one, so that no matter how cold it gets, you are prepared.
Wind can suck the heat right out of your skin, and even if
you feel comfortable at first, a half an hour later you can
be freezing because the wind just slowly drains the heat out
of you.
Be
especially careful if you are traveling with small children.
They lose body heat even faster in cold weather, and they
may need a hat or gloves much sooner than you do.
In
the middle of the winter, if temperatures are below freezing,
be especially careful and bundle up well, because wind chill
factors can drop the effective temperature far below what
you think it is. Even the distance between house and car,
or car and store can be brutal if you are not properly dressed.
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High
Altitude Library
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Editorial Comments throughout this site written by Laura Wheeler (with occasional sarcastic remarks by her son, David). Laura is a 10 year resident of Medicine Bow, Wyoming, where the altitude is greater than the population. Medicine Bow is at 6200+ ft above sea level, and boasts a total of 297 residents from the last census. Laura is an experienced technical, health and family writer.
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