ASK MR. SUN:

Is Las Vegas windier than Chicago?

Las Vegas Sun

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Sun weather

Current conditions, today's forecast, neighborhood weather conditions, historical climatological information

Ask Mr. Sun

On those days when the Mojave Hairdryer is set to high — 110 degrees with a breeze — Las Vegas can seem a very windy place. Relatively speaking, it’s not.

The city’s average annual wind speed is 9.2 mph, which experts say puts us in the “average” category.

Chicago is windier, with a 10.4 mph average annual wind speed — though not the windiest city, nicknames notwithstanding.

Experts say the plains states, because of the flat terrain, see the most sustained high winds — Dodge City, Kan., for example, averages 14 mph. Coastal areas are close behind — Boston averages winds of 12.5 mph.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By bdover

7/14/09 at 7:03 a.m.

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Didn't I read that Chicago was originally called the Windy City because of all their blowhard politicians, and not the winds? Really. They are sure living up to that rep today. Welcome to Chicago politics.
By mojowomyn

7/14/09 at 8:54 a.m.

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Bdover, you are correct. Windy City was about the politicians. BUT...I just moved from there, and I'll tell you what...I will take Las Vegas' 55mph winds over Chicago's winds any day. That wind CUTS like a knife - you can feel it in your bones. It comes off the lake in winter, drives thru the narrow downtown streets and GETS YOU!
By JayeTT

7/14/09 at 9:18 a.m.

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Agreed, mojo. I grew up in Chicago and moved here only 3.5 years ago. I never got used to the wind in Chicago, but I did figure out what walking paths to take downtown to avoid the biggest gusts of wind. The goal was usually to get off Michigan Avenue!
By bdover

7/14/09 at 10:17 a.m.

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Boston was mentioned as being windier than Chicago. I fled from there in the 80's, and since I had worked outside, I suffered big time, too. Never been back there in the Winter, and never will. Funny thing is that it's horribly humid in the Summer, too. To hell with both cities....
By gdaysun

7/14/09 at 11:05 a.m.

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Yep, Chicago's the original "windy" city, and Cleveland, Ohio's got its fair share of "windy" politicians, too, especially right now. I'll also add Cleveland to the horribly cold and windy winter cities list - I'm moving to LV soon, so I won't be the missing ice storms and such for a good while!
By Bodytalk555

7/14/09 at 1:14 p.m.

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The older I get the less I understand living in a cold, windy climate. Cuts like a knife is an appropriate description for cold winds.
By Fccfirstclass

7/17/09 at 6:35 a.m.

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When we lived Tulalip, Washington, north of Everett and west of Marysville, we had a winter storm in 1995 that blew over 110 mph. We had quite a few trees on 5 acres and over a dozen of the tallest furs crashed. Our house was sparred, but the powerlines we just street level, and most of the came down as well. We were out of power for over a week. The drive to Marysville was 8 miles to get gas for the generator.

We had a lot of winter storms over the years, 1971 to 2001, that we were there, but that was the worst.
By hooloogoo

7/17/09 at 12:09 p.m.

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...Mt. Washington, North Conway, New Hampshire claims the weather observatory there recorded the world's record 231 MPH winds decades ago..

...Six jet streams converge occasionally at the six thousand plus foot peak creating multiple weather
patterns at the different faces of the mountain..

...On the rare day when the weather is clear, six states, Canada and the Atlantic Ocean can be seen from the observatory, but no Russia..
..
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