On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 04:18:48PM -0700, Phil Pugliese (via tml list) wrote:
> p.s. how long of a blackout would be required for trees to actually
> fall down & F10 winds to spawn?

A solar blackout in itself won't cause any particularly strong winds.
It's likely to abort the development of any previously nascent
tropical storms, as the surface temperatures drop lower in the
extended night than they would normally have been.

Hurricanes form and are sustained by transport of heat in water
vapour, requiring huge areas of fairly deep warm water.  Cool water
doesn't produce enough vapour to power such strong winds, and cool air
can't carry much anyway.  It takes an enormous amount of sunlight
energy storing enough heat throughout the water to set up the required
conditions.

In the long run, winds are driven by differences in average heat
received from the sun between different areas of the planet's surface.
When you turn out the sun, those differences go to zero.  All that's
left is driven by the remnants of stored energy.

Still, you needn't let this rain on your parade.  If hurricanes make
for a better story then why not go for it?

- Tim