Today is National Big Wind Day And El Paso Got The Memo

Every day I provide you with your National Holidays during my shift on-air. Some are silly, some are serious and some have me scratching my head.

Well, when I checked for today’s National Holiday I chuckled when I saw that today is National Big Wind Day, and what a coincidence…. El Paso is currently experiencing those “big winds” today BUT thank goodness it’s nothing compared to the world record for the fastest wind gust ever recorded on the surface of the Earth: 231 miles per hour! Yikes!

What is National Big Wind Day?

According to Nationaltoday.com, National Big Wind Day is observed each year in the United States to commemorate the recording of the highest natural wind gust.

It was back on April 12, 1934, that wind gusts reached a whopping 231 miles per hour! To put that in perspective, that’s stronger than Category 5 hurricane wind gusts!

Wind gusts in a category 5 hurricane can reach up to 157 miles per hour which is similar if not close to the speed of a high-speed train.

Where Did This Wind Event Happen?

The highest natural wind gust was recorded by Mount Washington Observatory which is a nonprofit research and educational institution located in North Conway, New Hampshire.

According to Nationaltoday.com, Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 ft. So that may be a factor as to how and why the strongest wind gust was recorded there.

Mount Washington, New Hampshire has held the world record for the fastest wind gust ever recorded on the surface of the Earth for nearly 88-years now and honestly, they can keep that record because if I can barely handle 50 mph wind gusts in El Paso, I don’t even want to think about gusts over 100 mph!