Windiest places on earth (ice, recorded, temperature, Chicago)

[Candle]

Let's make a list for the windiest places on earth where measurements are actually taken.

My first candidate would have to be Cape Dennison at Commonwealth Bay on the Antarctic coast, about the same longitude as Australia.

The most famous site for Katabatic Winds, and the windiest spot on Earth, is Cape Dennison at Commonwealth Bay. Convergent katabatic flow from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet results in a mean annual wind speed of 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour)!

Gales reach 200 mph there...Blizzards are probably very frequent as well.

Here's the site with this information. Wind & Wind Chill Facts - Weather in Antarctica - Antarctic Connection (http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/weather/wind.shtml - broken link)


1. Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica

[Bydand]

Mount Washington, New Hampshire: Mount Washington Observatory – The Story of the World Record Wind

[Jammie]

200 mph???? Wow! We probably don't hold anything for records, but the Plains area has consistently windy days.

[GraniteStater]

Mount Washington, NH recorded the highest wind ever observed at 231mph SUSTAINED

[LRUA]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Mount Washington, NH recorded the highest wind ever observed at 231mph SUSTAINED

I drove to the top of Mt Washington, NH once (I had to get a brake job after) I still have the bumper sticker "This Car Climbed Mt. Washington"

The temperature difference between the valley and summit is tremendous ...it was 75 degrees in the valley and a chilly 37 degrees on the summit the day I was there ....and windy too ...69 mph (probably a normal day too) ...there is a sign indicating the that highest wind speed was recorded there in 1935 (I forget the exact date)

[fnord]

Southern New Mexico gets a bit gusty in the spring. Winds over 70mph are not uncommon and there are occasional dust storms not unlike those in Baghdad. The winds blow from April to June. Sometimes Interstate 10 is closed due to blinding dust storms and multi-car pileups, mostly in the area between Deming & Lordsburg.

[susancruzs]

I've always found Mt. Washington interesting, haven't been there, would like to though! I've seen videos of the people that work there trying to do stuff outside, amazing!

Two Rivers is breezy, downright windy regularly, they've nicknamed themselves the "Cool City"! The temperature difference on most days between Manitowoc and TR in the summer is always more than a few degrees, usually closer to 10 and at most the towns are 8 miles apart. Key is the little bump out that we sit on, makes for interesting weather. Cooler near the lake definitely applies here.

Trivia for you, coming from NE Illinois to here, Chicago is called the Windy City and people don't realize that it has nothing to do with perpetual windy days there. Comes from years ago, Columbian Exposition and Chicagoans bragging about themselves, a newspaper writer used the term, probably not kindly and it stuck. Hmmm, now Chicago is trying to get the Olympics and bragging again!

[Jammie]

Susan, I'm glad you brought that up about Chicago's politicians. Do you know that I only learned that a few years ago? I always thought they were talking about the weather.

[Power Storm]

Not the windiest average here, but it can get windy during Winter and Spring with gusts and winds to 130 km/h. Winds only with strong systems such as cold fronts or low pressure systems. Also fairly windy during Summer and a little bit during Autumn with any system that comes through.