Windiest Cities

April 12th is Big Wind Day. The highest wind that was every measured was 231 miles per hour and occurred at Mount Washington Observatory in 1934. That’s a lot of wind! When most people think of windy cities the first place that comes to mind is Chicago. However, that’s not the case as some cities are actually a lot more windy. Here are the top 3 windiest places in the world. Some of them just might surprise you!

Wellington, New Zealand
This city is the world’s windiest city. It experiences average wind gusts that measure 18 miles per hour. However, that’s just an average since about 173 days out of the year it does get wind gusts that are 36 miles an hour. Despite the wind, it is popular among travelers and a place that you should experience at least once in your life. Just make sure you pack accordingly!

Rio Gallegos, Argentina
On average Rio Gallegos gets wind gusts that are around 16 mph. It is pretty common though for some of these gusts to reach 63 miles per hour. The month of December is considered the windiest month with wind gusts of about 30 mile per hour.

St. Johns, NL, Canada
This is the windiest city in all of Canada as well as the cloudiest, foggiest, wettest and snowiest city. The average wind speeds are 15.1 miles per hour. Although it has received 141 inches of snow, its winters are considered to be pretty mild overall.

Honorable Mention
You are probably wondering what the windiest city is in America. It’s Amarillo, Texas. It has an average wind speed that reaches 13.6 miles per hour. Apparently Texas is a very windy state as 4 cities in total are among the top ten windiest cities in the United States.

By now you are probably wondering why Chicago is called the “Windy City”. According to legend, the nickname dates back to the 1870’s. One theory states that it earned its nickname because an editor of the New York Sun newspaper, Charles A. Dana, state that the city was windy because it was full of politicians that were filled with hot air. If it’s windy where you are at on Big Wind Day, get a kite and enjoy it!

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