willies willies/dust devils
Annick Ansselin
devils" instead of hurricanes?
R. Timothy Smith
>In article <16...@physiol.su.oz.au> ann...@physiol.su.oz.au (Annick Ansselin)
>writes:
>>Wouldn't the Australian "Willie Willies" be equivalent to the American "dust
>>devils" instead of hurricanes?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
QUICK, somebody alert the Textbook Police! We may have the
culprit. In the sixth-grade teacher edition (p. 281) of the
1989 version for Scott Foresman's _Discover Science_ the teacher
is told that: "In Australia, a hurricane is called a Willy Willy."
>call hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones "willy willies". This is false. From what
>I've been able to read (and from my girlfriend who spent some time Down
>Under), these storms are called cyclones. Willy-willy refers to a dust devil.
-=- R. Timothy Smith -=- University of Delaware -=- Newark, DE -=-
--
-=-=- R. Timothy Smith -=-=- University of Delaware -=-=-
-=-=- rsm...@louie.udel.edu -=-=- Newark, DE 19716 -=-=-
Brian Curran
>Wouldn't the Australian "Willie Willies" be equivalent to the American "dust
>devils" instead of hurricanes?
Quite right. Somehow the rest of the world was led to believe that Aussies
call hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones "willy willies".
This is false. From what I've been able to read (and from my girlfriend
who spent some time Down Under), these storms are called cyclones.
Willy-willy refers to a dust devil.
General question: Guess it depends on your reference frame, but how
in the hell does weather in the Southern Hemisphere work? I mean,
Coriolis changes sign, temperature gradient is all backwards, etc...
Insert :-) here.
b "Greg Stumpf knows gustnadoes" c
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