40 best shots that caught the wind

Wind. We do not notice it until it starts to annoy us, or until we need it for some practical purpose, or until it causes some serious damage. And sometimes we use the wind for fun. Scientifically, wind is a stream of air moving in a horizontal direction. Here is a small selection of pictures in which the wind is not visible, but its effects are visible.

(Total 40 photos)

1. A girl tries to cope with an umbrella in the wind in front of the 50th Anniversary Park in Brussels. (Benoit Doppagne/AFP/Getty Images)

2. Goth with wind-tousled hair at Whitby Abbey during Gothic Week in Whitby, England. Gothic Week was first held in 1994 to celebrate all things dark and mysterious, and has now grown into a bi-annual Goth event. Whitby was chosen as the venue in part because Bram Stoker wrote his novel Dracula in a fishing town inspired by Whitby Abbey. Even lovers of romanticism, Victorianism, cybergoth and steampunk gather at the event. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

3. People take pictures of the waves breaking on the bay in Portcole, Wales. That day the wind speed reached 152 km/h. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

4. Farah Hall, US RS:X team member, and Brandon Todd, Australian RS:X team coach, at Bathers Bay on the 13th day of the World Sailing Championships in Perth, Australia. (Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

5. This NASA photo shows chemical tracers fired from five rockets launched from Wallops Island during a test flight in Atlantic, Virginia. The indicators form white clouds that allow scientists and the public to see the upper level of the jet's jet. (NASA)

6. Two hot air balloons touch because of the wind in the resort of the Swiss Alps at the 34th International Balloon Festival. In 2011, 100 balloons from 14 countries took part in the festival. (Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images)

7. Marcel Sim from Germany throws grass into the air to test the direction of the wind at a golf tournament in Dubai. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)

8. An Indian pilgrim dries her sari in the wind after swimming in Gangasagar, 155 km south of Kolkata. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)

9. A firefighter helps to cope with a forest fire in Meadowlands, next to the Metlife Stadium in Karlstadt, New Jersey, USA. Firefighters from across the state were called in to put out the wildfires that broke out in New Jersey and New York in mid-April. Drought, low air humidity and strong winds are the main causes of fire spread. (Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images)

10. A flag in memory of the victims of last year's earthquake and tsunami flutters in the wind at a damaged cemetery in Hirono, Fukushima Prefecture. Hirono is the first city to return to normal life after being evacuated. Of the original population of 5,300, only 250 returned to the city. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

11. This satellite image shows a spiral pattern of clouds over the central United States. Severely low pressure over the plains triggered a cold cyclone that brought moderate to heavy showers and thunderstorms to the central and eastern United States. Thunderstorms got stronger due to strong winds, large hail and several tornadoes. More than 5 cm of rain fell in Mississippi. (Associates Press)

12. A fire that forced the authorities to immediately close Highway 34 east of Yuma, Colorado. The fire caused half a million dollars in damage and was caused by wind-blown power lines over dry plains. (Tony Rayl/Yuma Pioneer via Associated Press)

13. Pulled up and upside down tree after a strong hurricane in Arlington, Texas, USA. A hurricane on April 4 injured 20 people, but no one died. (Paul Moseley/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram via Associated Press)

14. A gardener evaluates the damage caused to his greenhouses after a strong gust of wind. (Thierry Zoccolan/AFP/Getty Images)

15. Adil Khalid of the OEA team struggles with a squall on the deck of a yacht during the vo Ocean Race 2011-2012 from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand. (Volvo Ocean Race/Getty Images)

16. Spectators follow the yacht of Ken Reed from the United States, sailing to the finish line, during the race "Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012". Team USA took second place. (an Roman/Volvo Ocean Race via Associated Press)

17. Noelle Finch from the UK sits on his board in Funkhal Bay off the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira on the day the European Windsurfing Championships were canceled due to lack of wind. (Francisco Leong/AFP/Getty Images)

18. Alyssa Krank and Joe Gauthier kiss in the rain on Huntington Beach in California.

19. Road guard directs cars during a sandstorm in the Karrada area of Baghdad. (Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters)

20. Children from the tribal region of Pakistan Mohmand shelter from a sandstorm on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Anjum Naveed/Associated Press)

21. A dead donkey, partially covered with sand, in a desert area where residents take dead animals to avoid an unpleasant smell and infection, near the village of Dala in Chad. Mothers with hungry children flock to food distribution sites and clinics in the Chadian desert, but sometimes it is too late to save the children. UN workers warn that more children could die if they are not helped. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press)

22. A kite with a portrait of a man who disappeared during the last dictatorship (1973-1984), during International Human Rights Day in Montevideo. (Pablo Porciuncula/AFP/Getty Images)

23. The first day of the Coachella music festival in Indio, California, was held in the rain. (Damon Winter/The New York Times)

24. Birds fly around a kite during a festival in Ahmedabad, India. (Associated Press)

25. A girl runs on the sand, blown by the wind, on the beach on the coast of Seaburn, England. (Scott Heppell/Associated Press)

26. A Palestinian runner struggles with the wind on the road in Gaza during the second marathon in the city. (Adel Hana/Associated Press)

27. Greg Greger, who started the annual spring kite festival, flies his kite at Columbia Point Marine Park in Richland, Washington. “Sometimes when I fly a kite, the kids give me 50 cents,” says the 89-year-old man, whose wife was known as “Kite Lady.” (Kai-Huei Yau/Tri-City Herald via Associated Press)

28. Jeffrey Bale with a scarf fluttering in the wind at the annual Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. (Andy Barron/Reno Gazette-Journal via Associated Press)

29. People struggle with wind and rain in Tokyo. Due to strong winds in early April, several flights were canceled in the Japanese capital, forcing people to leave work earlier. (Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)

30. Patrolman and fireman Colorado trying to stand in the wind on the road. That day, strong winds overturned several trucks and started a small fire along the road. (Cliff Grassmick/Daily Camera via Associated Press)

31. The American flag blows in the wind against the backdrop of a destroyed house after a tornado in Harrisburg, Illinois. (Jim Young/Reuters)

32. Wind blows dust at the site of the demolition of a building in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

33. The sail of kitesurfer John Petin flutters in the wind on the Pacific beach in San Diego. (Gregory Bull/Associated Press)

34. Nancy York from Vancouver goes upwind along the gorge on the Columbia River near Corbett, Oregon. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)

35. Sam Courtney climbs a wind turbine to attach carrying straps to a crane in Garnsey County, Ohio. Last year, 6,810 megawatts of wind turbines were installed in the US, up 31% from 2010. (Ty Wright/Bloomberg News)

36. A whole collection of windmills in a field in Tolar, Texas. Jessie Haney loves this quiet and peaceful place, but she also loves the local buzz from the 42 restored windmills. She and her husband found this place 10 years ago on their honeymoon and have been coming here every year for their wedding anniversary ever since. (Paul Moseley/Star-Telegram via Associated Press)

37. A Palestinian holds on to his umbrella in strong winds while waiting for a bus in Ramallah. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

38. Woman on the beach in the coastal town of Camps Bay, near the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is famous for its strong winds. (Schalk Van Zuydam/Associated Press)

39. A kitesurfer enjoys the wind near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. (Tsafir Abayov/Associated Press)

40. Wind in the face, hair tousled, trying to keep glasses in place, a student walks past the red brick walls of Walla Walla School, Washington. (Jeff Horner/WALLA WALLA UNION-BULLETIN via Associated Press)