Meteorologists are also interested in another wind measurement known as a gust. While it’s not precise and becomes more inaccurate as wind speed increases, it’s a useful tool for estimation. This scale uses a specific set of observable conditions on land and sea to estimate a range of the actual wind speed. You can also measure winds by visual observation using a system known as the Beaufort Scale. To confuse you even more, sustained wind speeds forecasted in hurricanes are actually a one-minute average! In other words, the reported rate is never precisely how fast the wind’s blowing at that exact moment. It’s an average of the wind speed over the past two minutes, calculated from a series of 24 five-second average values. It’s important to mention here that the wind speeds you see on your nightly weather report are not the exact wind speed at any given time. A knot is equal to one nautical mile per hour, precisely 1.852 km/h (approximately 1.15078 mph). In maritime and aeronautical applications it’s measured in knots. In the United States and the United Kingdom, it’s measured in miles per hour, and elsewhere in kilometers per hour. Wind speed is a measure of how fast wind moves. See our buying guide for suggestions on which one to buy or learn more about weather stations in this article. You can do this at home by purchasing your very own personal weather station. Keeping track of the wind and the weather conditions that follow can help you predict incoming weather by merely observing how fast and from where the wind is blowing. Winds are often light under the influence of a high-pressure system, while low pressure typically brings windier conditions. The speeds at which these winds blow vary. Some of the windiest cities in the US are located in the Great Plains. In the eastern United States, east winds bring moist air and west winds drier, with the opposite happening in the West. The speed and direction of the wind can hold vital clues to understanding the weather, and even play a role in forecasting future conditions.įor example, here in the Northern Hemisphere a southerly wind often brings with it warmer air, while northerly winds typically usher in cooler air. Wind speed and direction are two of the many variables that meteorologists keep track of when observing the weather.
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