The Origin of Storms

[ScarletSabre he/him]

So, a few things I was wondering about the Origin of Storms (Which I'm fairly sure some eagle eyed poster will direct me to a WOB that I've completely overlooked that answers all of my thoughts/questions, and point out I'm an airsick lowlander ^_^)

So the Origin is where all Highstorms come from, and they all blow from East to West. Therefore no ship has ever visited the Origin, as they are all destroyed in the Highstorms, and even the one Hoid tells Kaladin about, designed specifically for the purpose, got hit by one and obliterated.

My questions/thoughts are as follows;

Has anyone ever tried to sail to the Origin from the West? Leaving from a Shin port where the mountains provide a buffer to make the Highstorm a simple storm? Sure, it'd be dangerous to sail in a storm, but I'm fairly certain one that can toss boulders the size of cars is a smidge more dangerous.

What effect would the Highstorm have on a submarine? With Navani's advancements in Fabrial technology I'm sure they could Macgyver some sort of submarine (perhaps a yellow one ~) that could travel beneath the waves. I'm no sailor and don't pretend to know what effect a storm like that would have beneath the waves, hence my curiousity.

Could Kaladin, or any Windrunner/Skybreaker, reach the Origin? We've seen that during a Highstorm Kaladin is constantly replenished with Stormlight for his Lashings, and seems at least somewhat immune to the buffeting winds so high up, so with bags filled with Spheres to recharge in each storm, and the storm itself filling him up as he passes through it, could he make it to the Origin via Lashing travel?

And finally.... What IS the Origin? Considering what we know of Preservation and the mists from Scadrial, there must be some kind of Shardic influence on it. Not simply Odium, either, as he's responsible for the Everstorm, so perhaps Honour before he was shattered? Since the Stormfather is a Cognitive Shadow of Honour mixed with a Spren that sends the storms, I imagine it's whats left of the Shard's Cognitive Aspect using the power to send out pure Investiture in the storms, with the Spren "Vessel" that is the Stormfather,'s Cognitive intent to send storms via the power. As though the Spren himself Ascended with the Shard, but only being expanded in the Cognitive realm due to being a Spren, and manifesting as storms in the Physical realm in the same way Syl does as a Shardblade.

Thoughts? Theories? Slander at me for bringing up some probably Storms-cursedly obvious ideas? Bring it!

[+hwiles]

We don't know for sure yet, but I think the prevailing idea currently, both between readers and Stormwardens, is that the Origin is more of an "idea" than an actual physical place.  IE: the storms don't shoot out of some cavern set in the ocean on the opposite side of the planet (though...who knows, maybe they do?)

Could Kaladin fly there? Probably.  But I suspect he wouldn't find anything there worthwhile.  If it exists as a specific location, it's a tremendous distance away, probably in the middle of the ocean, and could just as easily be in the northern or southern hemisphere.  Finding it with the naked eye during a storm would probably be all but impossible.

The storms may get worse again after they pass Shinnovar.  Think of the mountains around Shinnovar as a rock sticking out of a river, they only break up and slow the flow of water for a narrow cone behind them before the flow recombines and returns to normal.

Edit: I like your candor, but I can tell you that a submarine would probably be a very bad idea unless it was highly, highly advanced.

Edited August 22, 2016 by hwiles

[Massik he/him]

I suspect with Dalinar bonding the stormfathrr, we may find more out about the origin.  

I like the idea of going west from Shinovar to reach the Origin by that route, but with the Everstorm now happening, I'm not sure it's feasable anymore.  

I should think a submarine would be plausible to pass safely underneath both types of storm, but then again, we habe no idea of currents or anything other than santhids that may be lurking in the depths.  

[thegatorgirl00 she/her]

1 hour ago, hwiles said:

We don't know for sure yet, but I think the prevailing idea currently, both between readers and Stormwardens, is that the Origin is more of an "idea" than an actual physical place.  IE: the storms don't shoot out of some cavern set in the ocean on the opposite side of the planet (though...who knows, maybe they do?)

Could Kaladin fly there? Probably.  But I suspect he wouldn't find anything there worthwhile.  If it exists as a specific location, it's a tremendous distance away, probably in the middle of the ocean, and could just as easily be in the northern or southern hemisphere.  Finding it with the naked eye during a storm would probably be all but impossible.

The storms may get worse again after they pass Shinnovar.  Think of the mountains around Shinnovar as a rock sticking out of a river, they only break up and slow the flow of water for a narrow cone behind them before the flow recombines and returns to normal.

Edit: I like your candor, but I can tell you that a submarine would probably be a very bad idea unless it was highly, highly advanced.

I've always thought that the existence of crem indicated that there is something physically different about the Origin. I'm not very knowledgable on the subject (and if someone is feel free to correct me), but I don't think a storm would be able to gather something like crem traveling over the open ocean. 

I never imagined the Origin as a cave, like you suggested. More of a large, shallow area of the ocean with lots of Investiture and crem. Kind of like the Purelake, actually. 

[+hwiles]

11 minutes ago, thegatorgirl00 said:

I've always thought that the existence of crem indicated that there is something physically different about the Origin. I'm not very knowledgable on the subject (and if someone is feel free to correct me), but I don't think a storm would be able to gather something like crem traveling over the open ocean. 

I never imagined the Origin as a cave, like you suggested. More of a large, shallow area of the ocean with lots of Investiture and crem. Kind of like the Purelake, actually. 

That would certainly be interesting, and I kinda like the imagery.  On a side note to everyone else reading, please don't think my word law on this subject, we've received relatively little information; I was just parroting what I believe (keyword) to be the most widely held baseless speculation.  

[ScarletSabre he/him]

2 hours ago, hwiles said:

We don't know for sure yet, but I think the prevailing idea currently, both between readers and Stormwardens, is that the Origin is more of an "idea" than an actual physical place.  IE: the storms don't shoot out of some cavern set in the ocean on the opposite side of the planet (though...who knows, maybe they do?)

Could Kaladin fly there? Probably.  But I suspect he wouldn't find anything there worthwhile.  If it exists as a specific location, it's a tremendous distance away, probably in the middle of the ocean, and could just as easily be in the northern or southern hemisphere.  Finding it with the naked eye during a storm would probably be all but impossible.

The storms may get worse again after they pass Shinnovar.  Think of the mountains around Shinnovar as a rock sticking out of a river, they only break up and slow the flow of water for a narrow cone behind them before the flow recombines and returns to normal.

Edit: I like your candor, but I can tell you that a submarine would probably be a very bad idea unless it was highly, highly advanced.

Hmmmm, the Origin not being a physical place is an interesting idea (The place where storms come from? It's inside us all, you airsick lowlander.), though rather than a cave, my own mental image when I think of a place where storms that circle the earth periodically come from is more like... (Apologies in advance for my writing, I tend to use run-on sentences and don't space well, and this is just a quick scribble on my phone before bed.)

 

Kaladin paused, Lashing himself backwards to slow his momentum, hanging in the now still air. The stormwall behind him roared across the oceans, churning the water like some great hand scooping at it's surface with fingers made of thunder and lightning. He was here. The Origin lay before him on the horizon, the only thing visible for hundreds of miles all around. It was... different, than he'd expected. A short cliff jutting from the still sea water, the Western side smoothed into a ramp down to the water's edge, while the Eastern side was more natural, having crumbled and eroded from time rather than constant Highstorm weathering. The stormward side tapered to a point as it met the waves gently lapping at it's surface, almost apologetic, as if pleading for the buffeting winds to stop. This combined with the rounded edge of the leeward side made the island look like an enormous stone teardrop to Kaladin's lofty perspective. Like the last tear of some great god. At the very centre of the flat top was... something. Kaladin didn't really know how to describe it. A pillar of light extended into the heavens far above him as he floated towards the Origin, but it didn't glow with the bright, raw power of Stormlight. It was softer, he could look directly at such a brilliant beacon of light without needing to let his eyes adjust as he did when peering into a gemstone. It seemed to hum and pulse, and as he drew closer he could see the column of light was actually comprised of hundreds of thousands of smaller ribbons of light, like the kind Syl became when she danced beside him in the air. Some were as thin as his finger, others as thick as his whole body, but they all seemed to spin and spiral around one another as they rose and fell in their vertical stage, seeming to pulse gently, almost flickering like a flame in a gentle breeze. 

 

So yeah, I kinda get the mental image of that kind of thing on a lone tiny island on the opposite side of Roshar, on the antipode of the whole continent. ^^ Oooooh, perhaps the Origin is Honour's Shardpool.

Your thought on the storm getting stronger again after it passes Shinovar is interesting, but with the Stormlight expended before it gets there I'm not sure how that would work... unless perhaps the Origin is just beyond Shinovar, and the storm continues Westwards until it hits some kind of barrier and then is reinfused with Stormlight? Either way I imagine someone on the Shin coast would have noticed if a Stormwall like the one we've seen Kaladin head into suddenly built off their coast, even if it was heading away.

[CosmereQuestioner]

IS there an origin?  I always assumed the storm just continued around the world, slowing (albeit at different speeds each time) while on the unseen portion of Roshar. And maybe only resetting during weepings - if then.

Sanderson once stated his inspiration for Roshan was the giant storm on Jupiter that never stops (or hasn't as long as we've been watching it), and in my mind the storm in Roshar just continuously circles the globe.

(Please correct me with evidence or WoB though, I'm very interested!)

[ScarletSabre he/him]

 

11 minutes ago, CosmereQuestioner said:

IS there an origin?  I always assumed the storm just continued around the world, slowing (albeit at different speeds each time) while on the unseen portion of Roshar. And maybe only resetting during weepings - if then.

Sanderson once stated his inspiration for Roshan was the giant storm on Jupiter that never stops (or hasn't as long as we've been watching it), and in my mind the storm in Roshar just continuously circles the globe.

(Please correct me with evidence or WoB though, I'm very interested!)

That may be, I've read about the inspiration myself, but considering we've seen that Stormlight runs out, and that in Shinovar the Highstorms have lost their Stormlight to become regular storms again, or even just a (at least comparatively) mild breeze and drizzle. 

That makes me think that there's gotta be some point or barrier or cave or Spren or whatever that recharges either the air or whatever's left of the storm with Stormlight to make it a new Highstorm.

So if the storm is one storm that needs to be recharged with new Stormlight, is it the same storm? Ironically it's like the old conundrum of replacing every part of a ship with new, but the same, parts.

In my opinion at least, with the Highstorms not being regular and needing to seemingly be recharged, and with the Stormfather able to send a Highstorm in the middle of the Weeping, there must be an origin point where new storms come from. 

But like you said, I don't think we have any WOBs about it, and if anyone can find any either way, I'd love to see it myself ^^

[+hwiles]

1 minute ago, Rawrbert said:

 

That may be, I've read about the inspiration myself, but considering we've seen that Stormlight runs out, and that in Shinovar the Highstorms have lost their Stormlight to become regular storms again, or even just a (at least comparatively) mild breeze and drizzle. 

That makes me think that there's gotta be some point or barrier or cave or Spren or whatever that recharges either the air or whatever's left of the storm with Stormlight to make it a new Highstorm.

So if the storm is one storm that needs to be recharged with new Stormlight, is it the same storm? Ironically it's like the old conundrum of replacing every part of a ship with new, but the same, parts.

In my opinion at least, with the Highstorms not being regular and needing to seemingly be recharged, and with the Stormfather able to send a Highstorm in the middle of the Weeping, there must be an origin point where new storms come from. 

But like you said, I don't think we have any WOBs about it, and if anyone can find any either way, I'd love to see it myself ^^

Some minor points to consider, though still just my own speculation:

I don't believe we've ever seen a highstorm hit Shinovar.  Unless I'm mistaken, the Shin believe stormlight is holy, which would be weird if they don't have any exposure to it.  I suspect (no evidence) that they would experience the highstorm's light-part without its storm-part.  The phenomenon would be like an aurora in the upper atmosphere shooting across the sky at incredible speed followed by light rain.  (I'd probably worship it too now that I think about it)

In terms of recharging...expended stormlight could just return to the storm naturally, or really, the intangible force that drives the storms.  Investiture can't be created or destroyed (WoB) so...it's going somewhere when it shines out of a gem or gets burned through with a soulcaster; why should it have to go to a specific physical location?

Urithiru is said in-book to be built "at the place closest to Honor."  I'm guessing his shardpool is either close-by or is the one Rock found in the Horneater Peaks.

I earlier stated that storms tend to get more violent and pick up speed when crossing over bodies of water.  This is how things tend to work on Earth (but...weather is complicated, so not always), so you're right, no really good reason to believe the process would be applicable to highstorms.

[ScarletSabre he/him]

13 minutes ago, hwiles said:

Some minor points to consider, though still just my own speculation:

I don't believe we've ever seen a highstorm hit Shinovar.  Unless I'm mistaken, the Shin believe stormlight is holy, which would be weird if they don't have any exposure to it.  I suspect (no evidence) that they would experience the highstorm's light-part without its storm-part.  The phenomenon would be like an aurora in the upper atmosphere shooting across the sky at incredible speed followed by light rain.  (I'd probably worship it too now that I think about it)

In terms of recharging...expended stormlight could just return to the storm naturally, or really, the intangible force that drives the storms.  Investiture can't be created or destroyed (WoB) so...it's going somewhere when it shines out of a gem or gets burned through with a soulcaster; why should it have to go to a specific physical location?

Urithiru is said in-book to be built "at the place closest to Honor."  I'm guessing his shardpool is either close-by or is the one Rock found in the Horneater Peaks.

I earlier stated that storms tend to get more violent and pick up speed when crossing over bodies of water.  This is how things tend to work on Earth (but...weather is complicated, so not always), so you're right, no really good reason to believe the process would be applicable to highstorms.

Don't forget, we DO get the interlude with the merchant in training and her Babsk (I forget her name at the moment), where she talks about being in Shinovar and how storms hit it.... there's no mention of light, but that the mountains are an excellent stormbreak, and make them relatively harmless.

The Shin worship stones, not Stormlight, unless there's a WOB or piece of evidence I'm not aware of. We have no evidence of the kind of light display that you mention (Though I REALLY hope that that does come to pass, that kind of aurora would be amazing to see, and I'd damnation well worship it myself.), though none to say it DOESN'T happen either...

Though Kaladin does muse during one of his dreams/visions that a Highstorm crosses the land and spends pieces of its energy to recharge spheres as it passes, if I remember correctly. If the highstorm is wide enough to cover the entire continent in one sweep, I imagine it's Stormlight would run out by the time it gets to the Shin mountains with all the light it would be expending.

As for Honour's Shardpool, you may be right, though there are a few things that make me wonder... We have WOBs that Perpendicularities that can enable worldhopping can happen naturally, like in Sixth of the Dusk. We also have WOBs that the Shin reverence for rocks is cultural rather than Mystical, at least until we get more backstory on the origin for that.

So Szeth contemplating how holy Urithiru is, and how it's stones are not blasphemous to walk on may be complete Chull dung as far as the truth goes, and the Horneater Peak pools may be natural manifestations of Investiture.... though Hoid coming out of one is pretty suspect, since I can't imagine him taking an UNimportant pool to travel by unless he was trying to avoid someone at an actual Shardpool.

The Stormfather can also send storms, so he must be able to add Investuture/Stormlight to the air to create a Highstorm, which means that there must be a point he has to send it from, or an area he can do it in, otherwise he would have done it right on top of the Alethi army... unless the Storm needs time to gather strength to combat the Everstorm. Until we find out where/how the Stormfather creates the storms, we won't know for certain if he could start one in the middle of Alethkar rather than off the edge of the Shattered Plains.

[Argel he/him]

The highstorm could be like a hurricane, slowing down over land but recharging once it hits water again.

The Stormfather creates a new Highstorm at the end of  WoR in response to the Everstorm. Was it created at The Origin? And if so, can we infer anything about the distance from that? Did the new Highstorm replace the previous one, or could there be two?

FWIW, I would guess The Origin is more in the CR than PR.

Regarding a submarine, I would think it would have to run moderately deep to avoid all the havoc the storm creates, and that sounds fraught with peril. A lot of experimentation would be needed, and we have no idea if they have enough understanding of physics, mathematics, etc. to pull it off. They are more closer to medieval technology than modern, and fabrials let them cheat science, giving them fewer incentives to progress their understanding and technological level. Of course, presumably the Heralds and at least some of the KRs could make it to the Origin without too much trouble (especially with access to the CR).

Edited August 23, 2016 by Argel

[ScarletSabre he/him]

17 minutes ago, Argel said:

The highstorm could be like a hurricane, slowing down over land but recharging once it hits water again.

The Stormfather creates a new Highstorm at the end of  WoR in response to the Everstorm. Was it created at The Origin? And if so, can we infer anything about the distance from that? Did the new Highstorm replace the previous one, or could there be two?

FWIW, I would guess The Origin is more in the CR than PR.

Regarding a submarine, I would think it would have to run moderately deep to avoid all the havoc the storm creates, and that sounds fraught with peril. A lot of experimentation would be needed, and we have no idea if they have enough understanding of physics, mathematics, etc. to pull it off. They are more closer to medieval technology than modern, and fabrials let them cheat science, giving them fewer incentives to progress their understanding and technological level. Of course, presumably the Heralds and at least some of the KRs could make it to the Origin without too much trouble (especially with access to the CR).

You might be right.... maybe it goes over an ocean of Investiture? Like say..... a Shardpool? *Nudge nudge* Eh? Eh?

And as for the Stromfather creating a new storm, he at least creates it off the coast of the Shattered Plains, so if he DID create it at the Origin, then the Origin of the Everstorm must have been equadistant from the battlefield as the Highstorm Origin....

For that matter, where would the Origin of the Everstorm be? It doesn't seem to run out of red lightning the way the Highstorms do, unless it gives it to the Parshment to transform them the way the Highstorm does to Spheres with Stormlight... What would happen when the Everstorm hits the Origin of the Highstorms?

Edited August 23, 2016 by Rawrbert

[+hwiles]

Wait a second, Jasnah could find the Origin in Shadesmar, where, I guess I would assume there aren't highstorms (right...?) and then just pop out into the physical realm.  Hopefully her natural scientific curiosity will make her take the journey soon, if she hasn't already.  A scientist who can more-or-less teleport should really help us get a lot of these questions answered.  

[The One Who Connects he/him]

I haven't been able to find it in recent days, but I swear there was a WoB about highstorms in shadesmar..

I don't remember anything world-breaking, so it was probably a RAFO.

But Elsecalling to fast-travel there... that might just work

[+hwiles]

Too bad Shallan isn't the Elsecaller, I could see her being reckless and curious enough to take a half-day off of radianthood and locating the Origin of Storms...

[The One Who Connects he/him]

I regret having to inform us that Elsecalling idea may not be feasible

Quote

Question

Is Jasnah still alive at the end of the book, since the whole scene where she kind of appears...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, she is.

Argent

Why does she take so long to come back?

Brandon Sanderson

Because Elsecalling is not precise even if you know what you are doing, which she doesn't.

Tags

jasnah , surgebinding

 

Source

[+Child of Hodor]

WOB:

From DC signing

Shicaca
Q:  I was looking at the map of Roshar and it kinda looked like a spiral galaxy to me like it was flipping a certain way.
A:  That was intentional.  You are on to something that no one's figured out yet.  
Q:  I was thinking it could be connected to people being able to manipulate gravity.
A:  It's not exactly what you think you're on to, but you're getting close to something that they've all wanted to know for a while.

On 8/23/2016 at 6:21 AM, CosmereQuestioner said:

IS there an origin?  I always assumed the storm just continued around the world, slowing (albeit at different speeds each time) while on the unseen portion of Roshar. And maybe only resetting during weepings - if then.

Sanderson once stated his inspiration for Roshan was the giant storm on Jupiter that never stops (or hasn't as long as we've been watching it), and in my mind the storm in Roshar just continuously circles the globe.

(Please correct me with evidence or WoB though, I'm very interested!)

 

So we have the idea of a constant storm and Brandon acknowledging that a spiral galaxy-esque pattern is on Roshar by design. A type of spiral galaxy is a Whirpool Galaxy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Galaxy

 

 

What if there is one giant constant storm constantly spinning in place on the other side of the planet and the Highstorms are actually the tendrils of the spiral that slowly sweep across the world? The center of the storm doesn't move locations it just spins and the "tendrils" are what is hitting it the rest of the world.

I don't know why the land is shaped in a spiral pattern I don't know that a spiraling superstorm would create spiral erosion patterns.

Reinvestment

The storm tendrils lose their stormlight as they pass over land, perhaps there are more things to drain stormlight out of the tendrils on land than on the ocean so it loses more as it over land. The center of the storm pushes more investiture out to through the tendrils and by the time the tendril comes back around it is recharged (not much to siphon investiture on the ocean).

Where does the investiture come from?

Not sure about this, but we know that fish in the purelake have magical properties and we know the purelake drains right before a storm hits. Perhaps there is a shardpool under the purelake and the draining actually carries that investiture through the planet to the center of the storm on the other side. In WoK Hoid tells Kaladin of the Wandersail and how it was wrecked "by a giant whirlpool where it is said the sea drains". What if the sea doesn't drain from there so much as the purelake drains investiture INTO there? The investiture is then distributed to the tendril "highstorms" by the center of the storm.

http://coppermind.net/wiki/Wandersail

http://coppermind.net/wiki/Purelake

 

Edited September 2, 2016 by Child of Hodor

[Jondesu he/him]

@Child of Hodor, was that a recent signing?  I know he's confirmed that the landmass on Roshar is shaped based on the Julia Set (something I don't actually understand, but smarter people do), but that doesn't mean we know why, as you said.  The idea of the other side of Roshar basically being a huge stationary storm with arms that sweep out to wash over the continent is fascinating, and would explain at least in part the fact that Highstorms aren't precisely regular, and yet are predicatable: there's not multiple storms, but the multiple arms would seem like it to the people on Roshar, albeit predictable enough for the Stormwardens to track a pattern.

I've been meaning to add to the list of questions for Brandon something like "do the Highstorms rotate like tropical cyclones here on Earth?"

jW

[+Child of Hodor]

4 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

@Child of Hodor, was that a recent signing?  I know he's confirmed that the landmass on Roshar is shaped based on the Julia Set (something I don't actually understand, but smarter people do), but that doesn't mean we know why, as you said.  The idea of the other side of Roshar basically being a huge stationary storm with arms that sweep out to wash over the continent is fascinating, and would explain at least in part the fact that Highstorms aren't precisely regular, and yet are predicatable: there's not multiple storms, but the multiple arms would seem like it to the people on Roshar, albeit predictable enough for the Stormwardens to track a pattern.

I've been meaning to add to the list of questions for Brandon something like "do the Highstorms rotate like tropical cyclones here on Earth?"

jW

I found in this thread. It's under DC, doesn't have a date.

 

[Jondesu he/him]

58 minutes ago, Child of Hodor said:

I found in this thread. It's under DC, doesn't have a date.

 

Thanks, looks like probably early 2014 based on the times of the ones before and after (both were March 2014 I think).  Looks like just about that same time, a month after maybe, is when I can find the first references/confirmation that the continent is based on the Julia Set, so it's possible that's all he was talking about there.  I still really like your theory.

jW

[Darkness he/him]

Probably unlikely, but couldn't it also be the other way around? Maybe the continent is the one that's spiralling and floating around the planet, while the high storm is actually stationary? Maybe they're all on the back of some gigantic, drunk greatshell!

Haha not the last one, but seriously...

I really like the idea of a rotating origin, it would also lend some credence to the highstorms being mathematically predictable I think, and it's more believable than 1 perpetual storm just speeding up or slowing down. Anyone know how many storms there are per year (between weepings)? That might be how many tendrils there are to this thing... the weeping might be an extra long gap between tendrils (or if it's radially symmetrical, could be number of storms x 2 to the nth = number of tendrils, where n is the number of planes of symmetry).

K I'll stop now, I'm geeking out. Here, have an upvote.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

On 9/2/2016 at 9:16 AM, Jondesu said:

@Child of Hodor, was that a recent signing?  I know he's confirmed that the landmass on Roshar is shaped based on the Julia Set (something I don't actually understand, but smarter people do), but that doesn't mean we know why, as you said.  The idea of the other side of Roshar basically being a huge stationary storm with arms that sweep out to wash over the continent is fascinating, and would explain at least in part the fact that Highstorms aren't precisely regular, and yet are predicatable: there's not multiple storms, but the multiple arms would seem like it to the people on Roshar, albeit predictable enough for the Stormwardens to track a pattern.

I've been meaning to add to the list of questions for Brandon something like "do the Highstorms rotate like tropical cyclones here on Earth?"

jW

That is a fascinating idea. I feel like the way the Stormfather just sort of summoned a highstorm at the end of Words of Radiance doesn't seem like it's just the arm of a bigger storm, but still, it's an interesting mechanism for how highstorms act.