A weather vane is a device that indicates the direction of the wind.
A weather vane is an object that is installed on the top of a building so that when the wind blows, it can turn and indicate its direction . It is common for the weather vane to be shaped like an animal, such as a rooster or a horse , although it can also be an arrow or anything else.
Weather vanes are devices that have a marker to indicate the direction of the wind. This marker is usually linked to a cross that shows the cardinal points. Thanks to its mechanism, the different parts of the weather vane rotate when they are affected by the wind, showing its direction.
In order to be able to fulfil their function, weather vanes should be installed as high as possible . This way, trees and buildings are prevented from altering the actual direction of the wind. This is why weather vanes are often found on the roofs of houses or on the terraces of buildings .
Origin of the weather vane
Although the exact origin of the weather vane is unknown, it is known that this instrument has been among the creations of man for more than two millennia; a clear example can be found in the Roman Agora of Athens, built between 19 and 11 BC, where a weather vane in the shape of a rooster was placed.
By extension of this meaning, the term weather vane is also used to name a subject who tends to change his thoughts, behavior or attitude frequently . As can be seen, this meaning works by analogy to the constant movement of a weather vane, which changes its position with any wind.
Suppose a politician ran for president for the Liberal Party in 1998. Four years later, the same leader ran for president for the Conservative Party . In 2006 , the same politician announced his incorporation into the Progressive Democratic Party . Because of all these changes in less than a decade, many analysts describe the man in question as a weather vane .
The Pico del Veleta is located in Spain.
A Spanish mountain
In Spain we find the Pico del Veleta , the fourth highest in the country and the second highest in its mountain range , surpassed only by Teide , in Tenerife ; Mulhacén , in Sierra Nevada ; and Aneto , in the Pyrenees . The Pico del Veleta rises to 3,395.68 metres above sea level and is located in Granada , one of the most important Andalusian provinces internationally, partly because it was the birthplace of one of the most significant poets in history, Federico García Lorca, as well as the land where his life was taken in such a tragic and unjust way.
Despite what it may seem, the name of this peak does not refer to the aforementioned instrument for calculating the direction of the wind, but rather comes from the Arabic term balata , which can be defined as "balate, cut, cut", and refers to the marked cuts, some with slopes of up to 500 meters, which can be seen on three of its faces. In addition, it is important to understand that this word is masculine, unlike the previous one ( el Veleta).
Features of Veleta Peak
Among the most interesting features of Pico del Veleta is an area of permafrost with fossil ice that appears to date back 13,000 years, when the last glaciation occurred. It is worth mentioning that permafrost areas are permanently frozen, although not always with ice or snow.
The Pico del Veleta is an ideal place for lovers of downhill skiing, extreme and cross-country skiing, hiking, climbing and mountaineering, thanks to having the highest slopes in the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range, some areas of snow and others of rock. In addition, every year at the beginning of August a marathon is held that ends at the Puerto del Veleta .