Incessant high winds howling through Texas have you feeling ‘off’? You’re in good company
With a National Weather Service wind advisory in effect through 9 p.m. on March 19, many of us know all too well the hassle of securing outdoor furniture and picking up debris. Fewer of us, though, know the impact the stiff breeze that’s whipping through Fort Worth is having on our well-being.
Studies going back decades have shown a correlation between prolonged strong winds and physical and mental health issues. These can range from headaches to irritability and a general sense of malaise.
Scientists blame the phenomenon on too many positive ions in the air. This happens on days when the humidity is low and the temperature is “moderate to high,” according to a 2023 Saturday Evening Post article. That’s exactly what we’ve been experiencing here in Fort Worth in recent days.
Back in the 1980s, Cal State Fullerton professor Bill Puzo said the presence of excess positive ions in the air can “overcharge” people, causing the intestines to produce more serotonin than usual.
“People become a little more, what shall I say, hyper … a little more tense, a little more irritable,” Puzo told the Los Angeles Times.
Seasonal high winds occur at various times around the world. Among the most notorious are California’s Santa Ana Winds, which regularly reach speeds of 40 to 60 mph, and which were responsible for the rapid spread of wildfires that engulfed parts of Los Angeles earlier this year.
While we haven’t seen Santa Ana-level wind speeds, the winds at Meacham Airport averaged more 21 mph over a 17-hour period on Tuesday, with gusts up to 44 mph. With the exception of a lull on the 16th, strong wind has been the norm around here since last week. In addition to making people feel ill at ease and exacerbating respiratory illnesses, the wind, combined with dry conditions, has elevated the fire risk across Texas. As of March 18, the Texas A&M Forest Service was tracking 10 active fires, including a 23,000-acre fire in Roberts County and a 10,000-acre fire in Gillespie County near Fredricksburg.
In “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” the acclaimed writer Joan Didion included an essay about her disdain for California’s incessant winds.
“There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension,” she wrote. “What it means is that tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow, a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sandstorms out along Route 66, drying the hills and the nerves to the flash point.”
In a way only Didion could, she described the winds’ effects: fussy children and sulky, argumentative adults. She quoted Raymond Chandler, who claimed even the meekest of wives will “feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks” during a period of Santa Anas.
Hopefully things aren’t that bad for you, but if you’re not feeling like yourself this week, there might be a good — and scientific — reason for it.