Wind Tsunamis 🌪
Deadly storm waves slamming through the stratosphere.
From the Encyclopedia Nubica:
Wind Tsunami
Wind wave
Wind tsunami, a very large wind mass caused by tidal or gravitational disruption, an atmospheric airquake or a storm slide. The terms “seismic cloud wave” and “sky tornado” are used interchangeably to characterize this phenomenon which, when formed in proximity to aerial infrastructure, can cause severe harm.
Etymology
From the Japanese word 津波 [tsunami] for harbor wave, which refers to a series of ocean waves with extremely long wavelengths and high energy, typically caused by undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
Also described as: seismic cloud wave, tidal storm, sky tornado, monster blow or killer wind wave.
Physical description
A wind tsunami manifests as a sudden massive surge of air that travels at extraordinary speeds. Unlike a traditional ocean tsunami, it can form a single pressurized wall that harbors a force that is both formidable and potentially catastrophic. Characterized by a rapid and massive influx of air, wind tsunamis often result from severe meteorological events, such as a sudden atmospheric disturbance or an extreme pressure differential.
Speed and wavelength
Depending on whether it is a train of rogue blows or a solitary monster wave, wind tsunamis can reach enormous heights and speed that triples that of its maritime counterpart, collecting large amounts of air mass in its path. In clear sky terrain, a killer wind wave can travel as fast as 2000 miles (3 200 km) per hour with wavelengths that often exceed hundreds of miles. A plane may fly through a wind tsunami experiencing moderate turbulence while it is still in its formation phase, but if caught anywhere near the event horizon of a fully formed wind wave the aircraft will most likely not be able to escape fatal impact.
Unlike a tornado or a cyclone, which typically manifest as spiraling columns anchored to the surface of the earth and in contact with a cumulonimbus cloud, wind tsunamis are entirely freestanding forces of nature that move untethered across the sky.
Wind tsunamis in history
Wind tsunamis had been a relatively obscure phenomenon until the first Cloud colonization in the mid-1960s. One of the most devastating events occurred in 1984, when there was still no protective infrastructure in place and very little meteorological data available. On October 12 of that year, a major disturbance, caused by a gravitational shift in the stratospheric wind masses, triggered an airquake that gave rise to a series of colossal wind waves exceeding 750 RPM, headed straight for the southern shoulder of the Cloud. It blew through miles of unshielded rock land, reaching the southernmost Cloudstead of Martize within an hour. It tore entire buildings off the ground and claimed the lives of hundreds of settlers.
Alert systems
In 1989, as part of the landmark Cloud Forestation Project, a great iron wall was built to protect Cloudland against future wind tsunamis. This monumental piece of architecture runs like a fortified centipede along the southern borders of the Cloud. Equipped with a hypersensitive alert system, it scans the stratosphere and upper troposphere for monster blow formation within an 800-mile radius. Orbital drones monitor the greater sub-gravity zones for disruptive weather activity.
