User:Wryn4832/sandbox

After sentence 1 -- The winds are also referred to as the bad-i-sad-o-bist ruz.

After sentence 3 in first section -- These stronger wind speeds can be caused by the topography surrounding the region.

After sentence 4 -- This is mostly southward to southeastward.

Para 2 after sentence 1 -- The Wind of 120 Days affects all of the Helmand Basin, but Sistan feels stronger winds because they strengthen along the space between the mountains of Iran and Afghanistan located in this area.

End of 2nd para -- This can lead to drought.

Wind Intensity
Due to the intensity of these winds and wind blown sands, most trees and plants are negatively affected. A way for trees or plants to flourish in the province is if they are protected by some type of shelter or blockade, such as a gorge. There is a gorge on the northwest border of the region that provides this type of protection for palm groves to benefit people in the area. With such strong winds, this can affect breaches in the dams of the Helmand Delta that would cause flooding in the area and can also contribute to drought if the river levels are low. The Sistan and Baluchestan Province can also see advantages from the winds, including the elimination of stagnant water.

Dust Storms and Drought
The Sistan Basin experiences continual dust storm activity due to loose soils of surrounding lakes, such as the Hamoun Lake, being blown away by the Wind of 120 Days. This lake was turned to a desert from 1991-2001 because of severe drought and is one of the main sources of dust being moved by the winds. Droughts and their duration directly affect the dust storm activity and the amount of sand being transferred by these storms. These winds can shift the loose sands caused by intense drought, creating an intrusion of the desert onto already existing villages in the province. Transference of sand by wind threatens to invade fields and orchards, jeopardizing agriculture in the province; it also affects irrigation patterns. Drifting sand affects the prosperity of agriculture, livestock, and the fishing industry that the natives rely on. Windbreakers have been constructed in order to keep the sand from being removed from lake beds during droughts.

Yardangs and Dunefields can be found in the lower Helmand Basin. - where to place?

Architectural Impacts
People in Sistan constructed all structures with walls parallel to the wind direction. When buildings of the area were built using baked brick, inscriptions and architectural details were important to the province's structures. The wind of 120 days protected those close details as opposed to the parts of the buildings exposed to the sun. Upper parts of buildings and minarets were not affected by wind-blown sands, but the wind-blown sands did grind the lower portions of these structures. Surfaces of buildings no more than 10 to 15 feet above ground level were smoothed by these conditions and the wind intensity was more extreme closer to ground level. During these four months, the winds also bring higher temperatures. Today, small wind intakes on top of homes are used for air conditioning purposes during the Wind of 120 Days.

Events
If needed...