"It's always something," Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say. "If it's not one thing, it's another." Wind power knows something about that.
Now the Associated Press says weatherpersons are raising the latest thing to join the list of hazards and complaints pertaining to wind farms. Birds, bats, sage grouse, horrible hums. It appears now that wind turbine blades can look on Doppler radar like storms or even tornados.
The American Wind Energy Association is dealing with the problem, AP reports today. Apparently the phenomenon has led to a false tornado alert in Kansas and a scare in Iowa. But with thousands of turbines going up, "more false starts seem inevitable," the article said.
A National Weather Service person told AP that the issue started to crop up a few years ago, apparently in places where a wind farm is put within about 11 miles of a Doppler site. Both radar stations and wind farms like to be in similar areas -- exposed areas, high ground -- the weather service's Tim Crum said.
The Kansas incident actually happened because a computer program picked up on the radar pattern and issued the alert. A human meteorolgist recognized the situation and called off the alert quickly. There is still nothing like humans.
According to AP, AWEA's Laurie Jodziewicz said the association is making sure its members understand the issue and consider it as they site projects. The weather service is meeting regularly with the group, and "there are now discussions about shutting down the wind farms when bad storms roll in."
Leave a comment