Aquano's Blog: nature

The Great Falls of the Passaic River, located just 12 miles from New York City in the city of Paterson, New Jersey, is a not only spectacular natural attraction in the nation’s most populous state, it also gained historical significance in the early stages of the American industrial Revolution by supplying water power to the nation’s first manufacturing center. The falls now 77 feet high, emerged approximately 13,000 years ago the end of the ice age. As the glaciers ice melted, the Passaic River swelled and rerouted it's way around the north end of the Watchung Mountains, carving out the spectacular falls from the basalt base.
Early habitation of the surrounding falls began with the native Lenape Indians, followed by Dutch settlers in the in the 17th century.

The Great Falls of the Passaic River

The Great Falls

the Passaic River

The Great Falls of the Passaic River New Jersey

The Great Falls "diamond in the rough"

The Great Falls and the American Industrial Revolution

The Falls also has a place in history with the American Industrial Revolution as one of the nation’s first manufacturing centers that benefited from the falls water source to generate power to run mills that manufactured locomotives, guns, silk, and aircraft engines.

The Great Falls winter

The Great Falls winter 1

The Great Falls of the Passaic River winter

In 1778, after visiting the Falls Alexander Hamilton, first realized the water power potential for industrial development and when he later became the country's first treasury secretary, he spearheaded the development of the nation's first planned industrial city.
Two manufactures of prominence, The Rogers Locomotive Works and Colt, where the first Colt .45 revolvers were produced, benefited by the water power from the falls.

The Passaic River

The Passaic River is prone to flooding from heavy rainfall or snow-melt, and during those periods of flooding, the Falls is at its best as an awesome sight with the tremendous down pouring of water cascading over the falls.
In the second week of April, 2007, 8 inches of rain drenched the area and produced the "Great Flood" that flowed down the Passaic River and over the Falls.
The Great Falls - A National Historic Park
In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation making The Great Falls and its surrounding 35 acres a National Park. This legislation now provides protection and increased funding to the park.

The Great Falls - A National Historic Park

The Great Falls - A National Historic Park 1

The Great Falls National Park

The Falls is a natural "diamond in the rough" and the foundation of America’s economic development. A master plan or design vision has been developed for the recovery of the Great Falls, the surrounding area, and historical industrial sites, to create and orderly plan to integrate them into one spectacular new public space. This new integrated public park is intended to commemorate the Great Falls and its place in the history of the American Revolution while preserving the viewing and natural beauty of the Great Falls.
Best Place to View The Falls
The falls can best be viewed from three spots; Hamilton Park on the south, from the bridge down river from the falls, and Overlook Park on the north.
Great Falls Historic District Visitor Center
Located across from the Falls, The Great Falls Historic District Cultural Center is a great place to learn about the history and many of the initiatives underway to develop the area.

For most people, Spring brings an end to the extremes of mother nature, but to others, it means that it is only beginning. The moist, warm air of Spring is prime fodder for tornadoes, which occur more frequently in the United States than anywhere else on Earth.
The recent activity in what is known as "Tornado Alley" has brought many to wonder at the destructive force of tornadoes. So far, 100 homes and 40 businesses have been destroyed in Oklahoma, with upwards of 130 homes damaged. Damage is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Amazing fire tornado power

Tornadoes are birthed and fed by a combination of hot air rising and cold air falling, often during the early stages of rapidly developing thunderstorms. But no matter how powerful a tornado may be, has an inevitable end. Tornadoes enter a dissipating stage when cold air wraps around the rotating system, cutting off the supply of warm air.
As with anything that inspires so much awe and fear in the human heart, there are many myths surrounding tornadoes, and knowing the facts about these myths can save your life if you are ever faced with being in the path of a twister.

Amazing tornado power

Earth's weather can produce various kinds of windstorm which include waterspouts, dust devils and tornadoes. Although they have the common features of a column of rotating air, they are actually formed through different processes. Dust devils and small whirlwinds are caused by severe local heating of the earth's surface that makes the air rise rapidly. The interaction of air current high up, produce tornadoes and they are always accompanied by intense thunderstorms.

force of tornadoes

tornado power
Though the US records the highest number of tornadoes it is Netherlands which is most prone to tornadoes. Late winter or early spring is the prime season in the US for the tornadoes. It is a time when there is instable climate in the country.
The birth of tornadoes takes place within thunderstorms. Most of them are produced in the supercell thunderstorms but hurricanes and squall lines can also cause tornadoes.

tornado
It is not yet known clearly about how tornadoes are actually formed. We conjecture winds from different directions results in the total thunderstorm rotating. Within it, the cold and warm air currents counteract and form an air column that spins, the mesocyclone ; this at times may result in a wall cloud that is a sure sign of an upcoming tornado.
This mesocyclone spins down the updraft of the cloud thus turning it into a funnel cloud. By the time it touches the ground, it turns into a tornado. It takes up the color of whatever debris it is sucking in. Depending on the landform on which it is moving tornadoes can be either invisible or partly visible.

Amazing
The tornadoes move along with the source thunderstorm. The course of destruction rages from 30 feet to over half a mile. The tornadoes can travel anywhere from some yards to hundreds of miles Speeding at a rate as high as 300 miles an hour, with the updraft speed moving up to even a 180 miles an hour. Sometimes tornadoes last for a few seconds and sometimes for more than an hour; but in an average tornadoes last for about 15 minutes.

Amazing The destructive force of tornadoes

However, not all tornadoes are as destructive as the ones wreaking havoc this Spring. Approximately 69% of all tornadoes are weak ones, with winds not exceeding 110 mph and contributing to less than 5% of tornado-related deaths. The most violent tornadoes account for only 2% of all tornadoes, but contribute to 70% of all tornado deaths with the lifetime of the storm lasting over 1 hour.