snowaggie said:

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What is the protocol with the turbines in that much wind? Shut down completely? Some sort of governor system?

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They shut down when wind speeds hit somewhere in the mid 20s mph.

The brown is dirt in the air. The amount of dirt blown yesterday should rival that of the infamous Black Sunday storm of April 14, 1935.

They vary the pitch and load on turbines depending on wind speed. But they will shut them down completely when the wind hits about 55moh

Someone earlier guessed 20mph, they would be shut down 90% of the time up here if that was all they could handle

The tallest wind turbine in the US (maybe tallest in western hemisphere) is about 5 miles NW of that horrific car pileup. It's a single unit, not part of a field, and is on the WTAMU Nance Eanch research farm.

Distance to tip of blade at the top is 635.5 feet. Most turbines are 400-500 feet. San Jacinto monument is 567 feet

When you say shut them down completely, do you mean they angle the blades so they are essentially parallel to the wind so there is no rotational force? Or do they somehow lock the mechanism so it won't spin? Or do they essentially put it in neutral so it still spins a bit, but won't burn up the guts?

I've always assumed they feather the blades, like an airplane with an engine out. Will have to admit I don't know that for a fact.

They do have brakes, they don't let them rotate AT ALL when shut down, even in low winds. No way are they letting them freewheel in 100mph winds. (Pampa, Texas, had a gust of 101 yesterday)

It's been a while since I ran the math, but I think the tip speed of a turbine is around 300mph under normal conditions. The speed and centrifugal force on the blades in high winds would be huge

I should have replied to MBL. Praying ya'll get some relief, Amigo.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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When you say shut them down completely, do you mean they angle the blades so they are essentially parallel to the wind so there is no rotational force? Or do they somehow lock the mechanism so it won't spin? Or do they essentially put it in neutral so it still spins a bit, but won't burn up the guts?

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Yes, that's exactly what they do, feather the blades so they are parallel to the direction of the wind like Canyon described. There is a lock mechanism but I'm not sure it is able to hold the blades, or bring them to a complete stop, without feathering the blades to slow (stop) the inertia; braking is a system. They absolutely can not just let them 'freewheel' without the windmill becoming a YouTube sensation. There are videos out there of that and it's catastrophic.

Latest wind turbines have rotor diameters of 438 feet, so using Pi in honor of the thread, the circumference is 1,376 feet. Top speed is 20rpm, so tip speed is 459 feet per second, or 313 mph.

Maybe some physics nerd could tell us how many Gs you would pull riding the end of a blade

Centerpole90 said:

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I should have replied to MBL. Praying ya'll get some relief, Amigo.

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Current wind in Canyon is 8mph, and thanks

CanyonAg77 said:

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They vary the pitch and load on turbines depending on wind speed. But they will shut them down completely when the wind hits about 55moh

Someone earlier guessed 20mph, they would be shut down 90% of the time up here.

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yup, I fat fingered that one. Mid 50s wind speed. A 20mph wind is a typical day for us.

Heard a few guys at work talking about this very topic. Exactly what is the nature of the liability here? How does that vary between the land owner and the farmer / leasee?

WestTxWood88 said:

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Heard a few guys at work talking about this very topic. Exactly what is the nature of the liability here? How does that vary between the land owner and the farmer / leasee?

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Depends on the lawyers and the juries.

I don't ever recall seeing someone sued over this. But anyone can sue over anything, I guess.

Generally speaking, it is up to the leasee to maintain the fields in good condition. Owner doesn't have any control over the day to day, they just have control over who they lease to.

As a further twist, most of the land in question belongs to the City of Canyon. They lease it on a 5 year contract. The adjacent land, which also blew, belongs to one of the oldest families and biggest farmers in the area.

We happened to drive by there Saturday. The west bar ditches are full of sand, and there is a layer of sand still in the median. Both the city farm and the neighbors had wheat planted, but we've been in a drought, so the wheat is pretty short, and still blew.

Someone must have called the farmer out, because he had plowed up a lot of the field, trying to stop the sand.

That's a bit of a losing proposition, as he stirred up even more sand while plowing. And while turning up damp soil helps stop the sand, you lose the moisture and the next time you are more likely to blow.

How much soil is actually lost during these storms? Can you see a reduction at the base of a fence post?

NM

Realized it's inappropriateness.

S.A. Aggie said:

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How much soil is actually lost during these storms? Can you see a reduction at the base of a fence post?

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I've often wondered this, because dust both blows in and blows out, I'm curious what the net effect is.

I've seen t-posts flopping around on the ground with all the soil blown out from under them. I've also seen a 5 wire fence disappear overnight because tumbleweeds blew up against it and created enough of a wind break to filter the blowing sand out, and buried the fence under 5 - 6 ft dunes.

https://www.myplainview.com/canyon/article/colorado-deputy-lends-helping-hand-i-27-pile-up-20233980.php

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Gwyn added, "We had one individual (Deputy Phillip Peterson from Mesa County Sheriff's Department in Grand Junction, Colo.), that was with his family traveling back to his home with his family. They were in a U-Haul and one of our challenges as the crew started pulling people out of cars was where to get them in some sort of shelter to wait until ambulances could get there.

"So, the family was following in one of their cars and the man was riding in the U-Haul. Right there in the middle of everything, we found that U-Haul truck and the family graciously unloaded the truck and taking out their possessions so we could use the U-Haul as a casuality collection center.

"I believe they ran 19 patients through the truck just getting them sheltered and start doing medical treatment on the most critically injured. It turns out that the gentleman with the U-Haul is a deputy with the Sheriff's Department in Mesa, Colorado. He and his family really stepped up and helped us out. Their personal vehicle was hit several times so it became inoperable.

"The U-Haul was hit but it was still operable. They were able to get to a clear area where visibility was better for those waiting. The family stayed up in Amarillo overnight and headed back to Grand Junction, but were able to go back and pick up some of their special possessions before they left.

"In fact, if you look on Facebook at Mesa County Sheriff's Office in Colorado, they have the whole story on it."

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https://crimewatch.net/us/co/mesa/sheriff/134177/post/mesa-county-sheriffs-deputy-and-family-hailed-%E2%80%9Cheroes%E2%80%9D-amarillo-tx-fire-department

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GRAND JUNCTION, CO - Wearing the Mesa County Sheriff's Office badge is more than physical, it's a state of mind. On March 14, 2025, while driving a U-Haul of belongings through Texas, Mesa County Sheriff's Deputy Phillip Peterson found himself in the midst of a historic sandstorm.

Severe weather warnings were issued throughout the region, but the weather hit too quickly for many to safely make it off of the roads. With minimal visibility and extreme winds, cars on the road ahead of, around, and behind Deputy Peterson began crashing - ultimately causing a 40 plus car pile up on I-27 outside of Canyon, Texas. Unfortunately, his U-Haul was hit and the van driven by his wife, Krystal, carrying his children was also hit multiple times.

As a result of the incident, the Peterson family lost nearly all of their belongings that were removed from the U-Haul and their van was totaled.

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