Naturalist's Almanac

On April 12, 1934, a 231 mph wind blew across the weather instruments at the Mount Washington Observatory. Three intrepid weather observers were there to record it, thereby establishing this wind as the world’s fastest.

Wind has intrigued people since the ancient Greeks decided that it was not the breath of gods but a natural flow of air. Just how fast a wind can blow, given the constraints of the earth’s atmosphere, has become the subject of increasingly high-tech research.

But the real excitement remains in witnessing the high-speed winds themselves. Alex McKenzie, who was one of the weather observers on Mount Washington the afternoon of April 12, 1934, reported that he was actually slammed against the building by the blast. The weather on Mount Washington is among the world’s worst, so when someone who works up there is impressed, we should pay attention.

We should also be grateful that they work up there. The Mount Washington Observatory offers us a clear and consistent point of reference because it’s removed from human influences, it’s at the highest elevation in the Northeast (6,288 feet), it’s continuously staffed, and it has remained in uninterrupted operation since it was established in 1932.

Hurricane watchers and tornado chasers have recorded some impressive wind speeds, but so far a hurricane has not exceeded 231 mph. And tornadoes, which have recently registered a speed of 318 mph, don’t count.

Tornado winds aren’t compared to mountain and hurricane winds because they can’t be measured at the surface. As the movie Twister so graphically showed, they’re blowing entirely too much debris. Tornado chasers use portable devices similar to police radar guns to measure wind speeds high up above the flying debris.

The hurricane that came closest to toppling Mount Washington’s record was actually a typhoon, which is what they call hurricanes in the western Pacific. In 1997, Typhoon Paka produced a wind that was measured at 236 mph. But when the instrument that measured it was tested, it wasn’t accurate enough for the record to stand.

For those of us who have witnessed only the occasional windstorms that blow through our neighborhoods — and can’t even imagine wind speeds of 231 mph and up — Mount Washington’s April 12, 1934 record-holder is still the wind to remember.

MORE INFORMATION

Mount Washington Observatory
http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/recordwind.php

The Mount Washington Observatory devotes a whole page of their Web site to their famous wind.


Wind Record Challenge - 1997
http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/recordwind-1997challenge.php

On December 16, 1997, Andersen Air Force Base, on the Pacific island of Guam, reported a gust of 236 miles per hour. If verified, that event would have established a new world record for a surface gust — a matter of scientific interest and of special interest to the Mount Washington Observatory, since the reported gust would have eclipsed the existing Mount Washington record by a small margin. As investigation of the Guam report proceeded, however, it became evident that the claim of a 236 mile per hour gust could not be substantiated.

This page provides links to some reports on the wind event on Guam. They include the early reports of the gust plus the follow-up analysis, including the final statement of the National Climate Extremes Committee, which concluded that the report of a 236 mile per hour gust was not reliable.