WMO lists new wind gust record 113.2 m/s (253 mph; 220 kt)

[billysinc]

I'm with Bill O on this one. The planet is a pretty big place and I'm sure there have been higher winds just no one there to witness or record it. That's what makes the MWO event so fascinating, people were there living through it.

As a side note while looking at threads about this I didn't realize that there was a 200mph wind recorded on Cannon mountain back in the early 70's. That story was pretty eye opening as well.

[Steve M]

I'm with Bill O on this one. The planet is a pretty big place and I'm sure there have been higher winds just no one there to witness or record it. That's what makes the MWO event so fascinating, people were there living through it.

As a side note while looking at threads about this I didn't realize that there was a 200mph wind recorded on Cannon mountain back in the early 70's. That story was pretty eye opening as well.

I'm with you all...If there was someone at that station holding the anemometer while experiencing the 253 mph wind, then I would be impressed. Winds of that speed occur in tornadoes regularly but no one is standing in them to record wind speed.

[Ric Werme]

http://wmo.asu.edu/ lists two wind records:

1) Maximum Gust
2) Maximum Gust for Tropical Cyclone

My guess is that 2) was created from a sense that TCs are important enough wind makers that record winds are worth tracking. That may have made sense then, but it appears that 1) and 2) may be the identical event for quite a while.

Tornadoes are just was important (well, more important if you live in tornado country, duh!) but suffer from being a) small ground foot print, and b) anemometers are typically taken out by flying debris such as hay bales, roofs, and cows. Tornadoes are associated with thunderstorms, and they also spawn damaging straight line winds. I'm not sure if that's worth tracking.

Extratropical storms might warrant a class (which is what the MWO record falls under), but some of those effects are enhanced by a high pressure system (like the MWO record) and credit should not be given to just the storm.

There are various other events, e.g. downslope winds, firestorms, jet streams redirected to ground level, etc. but they don't have the impact of the rest.

So, perhaps the MWO, or AMS, or a pack of rabid cizitens, should petition the WMO to change the wind records they track. I suggest:

1) Maximum Gust for Tropical Cyclone
IIRC, the gust has to be sustained for 5 seconds (or is it 30?). 5 seconds
is reasonable for catching eyewall vortices, is 30 too long?

2) Maximum Instantaneous speed in Tornado Within 100m of Ground
I envision this as allowing (okay, requiring) doppler radar speed
measurements close enough to the ground to have some relevance to
the damages sustained at ground level. A lower height might be
reasonable.

3) Maximum Gust for other Meteorological Event
The MWO record would be restored here, of course.

At the very least, it should be pointed out that currently the Barrow event is the only event that has two records in their global section. If they don't want to follow something like my proposal, I think they should drop the TC record since it is listed below in the TC section. They might also replace it with the Maximum Sustained Surface Wind for Tropical Cyclone which arguably is more important to people affected by TCs.

[Patrad Fischroy]

I just came across this blurb as well

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35084480/

I also am in agreement here that day in, day out, hourly, there are real people here at the observatory taking measurements and recording the events as they occur.
I would also think that it is due to the manned nature of the observatory that the research that has created the ability to have remote, unmanned stations like that at Barrow Island. Without validation of instrument designs by manned verification, there would be no such measurement ( unless there was a crash course in sheep training )
In many ways the observatory has been out there "training their replacement" for quite some time now. Kudos to you all for your hard work.

[FisherCat]

I was under the impression that at one time a higher wind than 231 was recorded in Guam, but because it was part of a typhoon not just a "regular" wind, it technically wasn't a record. This wind was also part of a typhoon, is the situation any different?

[JimS]

I was under the impression that at one time a higher wind than 231 was recorded in Guam, but because it was part of a typhoon not just a "regular" wind, it technically wasn't a record. This wind was also part of a typhoon, is the situation any different?

Typhoon, hurricane, cyclone, all same type of tropical system, just nomenclature and location. All involve straightline winds, like that on mount washington.

The Guam storm was discounted because of the type of wind recording devise used, and the calibrations on it. Not because of the type of wind.

The questions about the type of winds with this event are arising because of the possibility of vorticies within the eye wall, think tornadoes, that were not actually straightline winds.

[Rich]

The Mountain still kicks ass! (usually mine)

[FisherCat]

Typhoon, hurricane, cyclone, all same type of tropical system, just nomenclature and location. All involve straightline winds, like that on mount washington.

The Guam storm was discounted because of the type of wind recording devise used, and the calibrations on it. Not because of the type of wind.

The questions about the type of winds with this event are arising because of the possibility of vorticies within the eye wall, think tornadoes, that were not actually straightline winds.

Thanks for clearing that up Jim, I knew there was something about the discounting of the Guam wind.

In reality, I'd bet the strongest winds on the whole Presidential Range are in Edmands Col. Tight area when wind is whippin thru.

[JimS]

A great post in the 'Post' by two former employees of the Obs...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/cap...gtons_win.html