Gust
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Milwaukee author Katie Meyer's debut children's book, Gust, starring Port Milwaukee's wind turbine
🔋Our Power, Our Planet 🌎
This Earth Day, get wind of how Gust builds climate resilience by sustainably powering our community! 💨
When the wind blows, a device called an anemometer measures:
🧭 wind direction - turning Gust to orient the blades into the wind
🏁 wind speed - telling Gust when to start (or stop) spinning
This maximizes wind capture, improves efficiency, and increases the clean power generated for Port Milwaukee’s headquarters and our homes.🔋
Keep spinning, Gust!🌀
04/15/2026
🧰 Made in WI 🧰
Gust wishes everyone a happy Milwaukee Day day from the 414! 📍
The City of Milwaukee’s wind turbine was “Made in WI” by a dozen Wisconsin companies like this one contributing by:
🔨manufacturing key component parts
🔥heat treating gears, bearings and shafts
🔧testing the materials, coatings and systems
👷supplying the labor to build
💙 Local love from a local landmark! 💙
03/06/2026
🗓️ National Reading Month 🗓️
Gust joined the kindergarten classes at Bruce-Guadalupe Community School on NEA Today’s Read Across America day earlier this week to kick off National Reading Month! 📚
Kindergartners learned what authors do and then “shared the pen” to retell and re-write Gust using our knowledge of how stories go! ✏️
01/31/2026
↪️ Turning 180 ↩️
Gust is turning 180 degrees towards the city skyline today in celebration of the City of Milwaukee turning 180! 🎉
Happy birthday to Milwaukee, our “gathering place by the water” (derived from the Potawatomi word Minwaking) since 1846! 🤗
12/05/2025
💯 Keep it 100 💯
Keep it one hundred [kilowatt wind turbine] ⚡️
On the land [of Port Milwaukee] 🪨
The sea [of Lake Michigan] 🌊
The sky [moving air] 💨
…the fate of Gust. 😉
11/17/2025
🌱 Touch Grass 🌱
Need a smile? Touch grass! 😃
(Preferably you can go outside for actual grass but, if not,☝🏼this reader☝🏼recommends book grass in a pinch.) 🤭
11/07/2025
4️⃣ Attaching the Blades 4️⃣
Last but not least, a wind turbine needs blades! Are you up for the job? 🦺
Like Gust, most wind turbines have three blades. Each of Gust’s blades are over 30 feet long. 📏 The blades are attached to the nacelle by the hub, which rotates so the blades can spin. 🌀
Now you just need the wind to blow! 💨
11/06/2025
3️⃣ Installing the Nacelle 3️⃣
Atop the tower, the nacelle needs to be installed next. 🪛🔩 (I hope you’re not afraid of heights! 🫣)
The nacelle connects to the power cables in the tower and houses the key mechanical elements, like the generator and gear box, in it. ⚙️
Like other wind turbines, the shape of Gust’s nacelle is designed to minimize wind resistance and turns 360° to face into the direction of the wind. 🔄💨
11/05/2025
2️⃣ Building the Tower 2️⃣
Going up! ⬆️ With a strong base in place, you can start building the tall tower that makes a wind turbine stand proud. 🛠️
Gust’s tower is made of steel and had three sections that were assembled on site at Port Milwaukee. 🏗️ Inside the tower are power cables that carry the electricity Gust generates to a transformer, which then connects to the power grid. 🔌
11/05/2025
1️⃣ Laying the Foundation 1️⃣
Do you wanna build a turbine? 🎵
Once you’ve dug a big enough hole, you can lay the foundation, or footing, at the base of the wind turbine. 🪨 The footing is the concrete on the ground that supports the entire turbine and the wind forces acting on it.
With Gust’s home at Port Milwaukee being among the best wind resources in the region (with an average 💨 speed of 11.5 mph), his base needs to be stable and strong! 💪🏼
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