Climate can outline a area – some are scorching and humid, whereas others are chilly and wet. Individuals typically take this into consideration after they transfer to allow them to stay in a metropolis that most closely fits their style. Those that prefer it scorching might transfer to Phoenix or Miami, whereas individuals who prefer it chilly might transfer to Duluth or Seattle. Nonetheless, an often-overlooked side of the climate is wind. Wind can affect temperatures, create dramatic storms, and even form a metropolis’s general local weather.
However which cities are the windiest?
So, when you’re contemplating transferring to a brand new space, we’re right here to assist. Redfin has compiled an inventory of the windiest cities within the U.S. that can assist you transfer with confidence. Learn on to find if one in all these cities is best for you.
How we decide the windiest cities
For our functions of figuring out the “windiest” cities, this checklist will deal with cities which have the very best common annual wind pace. Many cities often see robust bursts of wind, like these from tornadoes and hurricanes, however are comparatively calm in any other case. These received’t make the reduce. This checklist focuses on consistency over a whole 12 months.
Due to this, cities within the Nice Plains from central Texas to South Dakota (generally known as Twister Alley) and the Southeast from Louisiana to Kentucky (generally known as Dixie Alley) don’t make the checklist. Equally, most cities that see hurricanes alongside the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast Atlantic Coast additionally don’t make the checklist. Wind actually performs a significant position in these cities, although, so all the time do your analysis to know a metropolis’s wind threat earlier than making the transfer.
Maintain studying to see Redfin’s rankings of the windiest cities within the U.S. with a inhabitants of 100,000 or extra. Afterwards, we’ll additionally point out the least windy cities.
What are the windiest cities within the U.S.?
1. Amarillo, Texas
Common wind pace: 12.9 mph
File highest wind pace: 84 mph (1949)
Amarillo, TX is the windiest main metropolis within the U.S. Its robust, constant winds are as a result of its location within the Southwestern Nice Plains. The Plains are particularly liable to winds as a result of their air strain instability and flat, dry, and unforested terrain. With fewer obstructions, the wind has time to choose up pace. Moreover, the Plains expertise robust springtime winds from the Nocturnal Low-Stage Jet.
The town’s wind report occurred through the usually calm winter, when highly effective gusts from a storm over the Rocky Mountains introduced intense winds to the realm. This can be a pretty frequent phenomenon throughout the Western Plains. Low strain strikes west throughout the tall mountains earlier than rushing (and spinning) downhill as a result of robust temperature and elevation variations.
So, do you need to transfer to the windiest metropolis within the nation? Amarillo is a real Route 66 cowboy city, identified for its Texas-sized steaks, the well-known Starlight Ranch, and horseback driving by way of Palo Duro Canyon.
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2. Rochester, Minnesota
Common wind pace: 12.0 mph
File highest wind pace: 74 mph (2019)
Rochester is the second-windiest metropolis within the U.S., beating out close by Chicago and Minneapolis by a large margin. In distinction to most different windy cities, Rochester sees a few of its strongest winds within the winter as a result of chilly fronts from Canada. That is typically adopted by heat southerly winds from the Rocky Mountains.
Curiously, nonetheless, the area’s highest wind pace of 74 mph got here in August, which is their calmest month on common. This wind got here from a derecho, that are widespread and extreme bands of windstorms and thunderstorms that may produce harm much like a twister. Derechos are pretty uncommon, however they’re commonest within the Midwest through the summer season and may have an effect on each metropolis on this checklist.
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3. Lubbock, Texas
Common wind pace: 12.0 mph
File highest wind pace: 90 mph (1952)
Simply 120 miles south of Amarillo, Lubbock, TX is the third-windiest metropolis within the nation. Lubbock is dominated by flat, dry prairies, oil wells, and cattle ranches, and owes its wind to robust thunderstorms, strain instability, and flat terrain. The town experiences almost similar climate to close by Amarillo.
Lubbock is finest identified for its agriculture, schooling, and leisure, with Texas Tech and Joyland Amusement Park the highest locations. It’s additionally nicknamed the Hub Metropolis of West-Central Texas and has a wealthy ranching and musical heritage, with museums to show it.
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4. Corpus Christi, Texas
Common wind pace: 11.7 mph
File highest wind pace: 161 mph (1970)
Additionally one of many hottest cities within the U.S., Corpus Christi, TX is the fourth-windiest metropolis within the nation. In distinction to Midwestern cities, Corpus Christi’s wind comes from constant summer season breezes from the Gulf of Mexico and winter and spring storms from the west and northwest. This area’s wind is constant all 12 months, with speeds usually sitting between 10 and 13 mph.
Corpus Christi’s strongest wind gust got here from a hurricane (Celia in 1970), which is much larger than another metropolis on this checklist. Different cities might have seen stronger winds from tornadoes, however trendy devices will not be sturdy sufficient to face up to these excessive wind speeds. Hurricanes are uncommon in Corpus Christi, however could be devastating.
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5. Wichita, Kansas
Common wind pace: 11.5 mph
File highest wind pace: 101 mph (1993)
Wichita is the fifth-windiest metropolis and follows the identical traits as different Midwest cities. Spring is the windiest season, summer season is the calmest, and powerful thunderstorms are frequent many of the 12 months. One such thunderstorm in the summertime of 1993 produced town’s highest recorded wind pace.
Referred to as the “Air Capital of the World,” Wichita is the central hub of Kansas and is residence to main plane producers like Cessna and Beechcraft. The town can be identified for its Civil Rights historical past, botanical gardens, and annual festivals like Riverfest.
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6. Boston, Massachusetts
Common wind pace: 11.5 mph
File highest wind pace: 90 mph (2019)
Boston, MA is the sixth-windiest metropolis and the one metropolis on our checklist on the East Coast. Because of its northern location, town sees very constant breezes from the colder North Atlantic Ocean year-round, however can see stronger storms within the fall and winter. The strongest storms come from the collision of chilly Canadian air and heat air from the southern Atlantic, which deliver heavy rain, snow, and wind as they transfer northward (from heat to chilly). These pretty frequent and infamous storms are referred to as “nor’easters.”
Boston’s strongest wind gust really got here from a 2019 “sou’easter,” which is analogous to well-known nor’easters, however as an alternative attributable to an extra of hotter air from the southeastern Atlantic. Sou’easters are extra frequent within the fall and early winter.
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7. Oklahoma Metropolis, Oklahoma
Common wind pace: 11.3 mph
File highest wind pace: 151 mph (2011)
Oklahoma is understood for its flat terrain, robust winds, and being in prime twister territory — and Oklahoma Metropolis is not any totally different. In reality, in 1999, the Oklahoma Metropolis space noticed the strongest unofficial wind pace on earth when an EF-5 twister struck close to Bridge Creek. The twister’s wind pace was measured at 301 mph (+/- 20 mph), though it’s an approximation and isn’t an official report.
Much like different Midwestern cities, Oklahoma Metropolis will get its ample wind from strain instability and night thunderstorms. Whereas the realm’s report wind gust information is scarce, essentially the most correct information comes from an in depth encounter with a twister that struck close by.
The state capital is understood for its huge zoo, Bricktown Leisure District, and the attractive Myriad Botanical Gardens. Sports activities are additionally a pivotal a part of life.
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8. Wichita Falls, Texas
Common wind pace: 11.2 mph
File highest wind pace: unknown
Wichita Falls, TX is the eight-windiest metropolis within the nation and one of the crucial liable to tornadoes (though cities in Louisiana and Mississippi might now personal that title). Much like Amarillo, Lubbock, and different Central and Western Texas cities, Wichita sees the strongest winds through the spring and offers with thunderstorms in the summertime.
Wichita Falls has seen loads of robust storms, together with an F-5 and F-4 twister. Whereas these storms can produce winds in extra of 250 mph, the readings are approximate and unofficial. Its strongest official winds doubtless got here from a extreme thunderstorm, however data are incomplete.
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9. Fargo, North Dakota
Common wind pace: 11.1 mph
File highest wind pace: 110 mph (1999)
Fargo, ND is the ninth-windiest metropolis within the U.S. and one of many coldest. Though it’s farther north than different cities on this checklist, it’s nonetheless exceptionally flat and experiences a considerable amount of strain instability, resulting in robust, constant winds.
Fargo’s highest wind pace doubtless got here from the huge Boundary Waters-Canadian derecho that moved from North Dakota, by way of southern Canada, and again into New England till dissipating on the coast of Maine.
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10. Abilene, Texas
Common wind pace: 10.9 mph
File highest wind pace: 78 mph (1983)
Abilene, TX rounds out our checklist because the tenth-windiest metropolis within the nation. Identical to close by Lubbock and Wichita Falls, Abilene sees an extra of wind as a result of flat terrain, unstable air, and powerful summer season storms.
Abilene’s nickname, the “Storybook Capital of America,” provides credence to its Texas appeal and hospitality, in addition to the primary museum for image ebook artwork within the nation. A real previous Western tradition and a flat, wooded panorama give town a novel really feel that many like to name residence.
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The ten least windy cities within the U.S.
Some individuals might need to select the place to stay based mostly on how calm the climate is. If that is you, right here’s an inventory of the least windy main U.S. cities:
Los Angeles, CA: 1.9 mph
Chattanooga, TN: 5.0 mph
Tallahassee, FL: 5.5 mph
Augusta, GA: 5.5 mph
Lengthy Seashore, CA: 5.6 mph
Montgomery, AL: 5.9 mph
Macon, GA: 5.9 mph
Gainesville, FL: 6.0 mph
Columbus, GA: 6.0 mph
Knoxville, TN: 6.0 mph
What’s the highest wind pace ever recorded within the U.S.?
Mount Washington, the tallest mountain within the Appalachians, holds the report for strongest wind pace in the USA at 231 mph in 1934, which was additionally the world report for over 60 years till Tropical Cyclone Olivia (253 mph) broke it in 1996. Situated in Northern New Hampshire, Mount Washington is persistently very windy, with a median annual wind pace of 35.8 mph, greater than double any metropolis within the nation.
Tornadoes are literally able to producing the strongest winds on the earth, however they’re so harmful that they destroy measuring tools after they cross paths. Due to this, tornadoes are excluded from wind pace data as a result of unreliable measurements. Nonetheless, specialists nonetheless estimate twister wind speeds through the use of cell doppler radars that measure the pace of mud or particles inside the twister.
How is wind altering?
Because the world warms and local weather change continues, common wind speeds are literally doubtless going to lower. This is because of rising common temperatures, particularly in historically cooler locations. Wind is attributable to adjustments in strain and temperature, often from low to excessive and chilly to heat. So, as colder locations get hotter, the temperature variations that drive world wind patterns will shrink, resulting in slower wind speeds.
Nonetheless, the other is true with extreme storms, that are anticipated to extend. That is particularly pronounced with hurricanes, which depend on heat water to develop. As ocean temperatures rise, hurricanes are projected to turn into extra frequent and harmful. Tornadoes are additionally barely favored to turn into extra frequent and can doubtless have a higher impression on infrastructure.
Methodology
This checklist comprises annual wind pace information for main cities with over 100,000 residents. 2023 Comparative Climatic Knowledge was obtained from the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its subsidiary, the Nationwide Facilities for Environmental Data (NCEI).
