Construction of the wind climate by idealized flow past real orography

An attempt is made to map the mean spatial variability of strong winds in the complex terrain of Northeast-Iceland by simulating winds of 15 m/s coming from 16 main directions with typical value of the static stability. The winds are simulated with the numerical primitive equation model MM5 and they reach a quasi-stationary state in less than 3 hours. Observations from a coastal weather station, located away from the mountains, is used to analyze the frequency of the incoming winds. On the basis of the numerical simulations and the coastal observations, regions are identified where the mean wind speed is likely to exceed given limits for a certain number of hours and days during the stormy seasons. The results based on the simulations agree largely with available observations.