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Windbreaks


 

More than heat, more than cold, more than rain, more than snow, wind, more than many forces of nature, will quickly drive people indoors. Fortunately, there are ways to combat strong winds. Not surprisingly, the best windbreaks are appropriately placed perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction.

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Strong winds should not prevent you from enjoying your outdoor spaces.

Surprisingly, the best windbreaks are also, typically, permeable. Permeable windbreaks, such as trees, will let just enough of breeze through so as to significantly reduce wind speeds in a given place without causing significant turbulence nearby. Impervious walls and fences work as windbreaks, too, but impervious windbreaks can also create significant turbulence on the leeward side of the solid surface, and this kind of turbulence can cause more problems than you had before the “windbreak” was ever constructed. It’s helpful to realize, too, that winds don’t blow. They suck. Atmospheric pressure changes create vacuums that draw “wind” toward the pockets of lower pressure.