Big Weather Picture

November 7, 2008

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Profile America — Friday, November 7th. The old saying is “Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” On this date 17 years ago, scientists took a big step in at least understanding some of the driving forces of everyday weather. A satellite released from the space shuttle Discovery identified huge windstorms in the upper atmosphere. Winds were clocked up to 200 miles an hour, flowing in masses up to 6,000 miles wide. On the earth’s surface, the highest wind gust ever recorded was on top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire — an amazing 231 miles an hour, on April 12, 1934. Among U.S. cities, the highest annual average winds are not, as you might expect, in Chicago, but in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at almost 13 miles an hour. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2008, p. 546
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008, t. 383
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008edition.html