|
|
|
|
Big Wind
Mon Apr 12, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Seventy years ago today, April 12, 1934, the highest wind ever recorded on this planet
was measured at 231 miles per hour. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather
Notebook.
At 6,288 feet, Mount Washington, in north-central New Hampshire is not a towering
peak. But a unique combination of atmospheric and geographic factors converge at
that spot to make Mount Washington the windiest place on earth. The Mount
Washington Observatory -- which is the producer of this program -- has an average
windspeed of gale force, and records hurricane-force winds about every three
days.
On April 10, 1934, Wendell Stephenson, Alex McKenzie, and meteorologist Sal
Pagliuca were pulling summit duty. The 10th was clear and calm, but the next day,
things began to change. A building high-pressure system forced a coastal storm
inland. The barometer began to fall, and the wind velocity started to climb. And
climb.
By sunrise on the 12th, southeast winds were topping 150 mph. Between noon and 1
o'clock, values up to 220 were common, with several gusts of 229. At 1:21 p.m.
Pagliuca recorded three anemometer clicks in 1.17 seconds. He instantly knew that
this was a record, but it wasn't until he converted the formula on the slide rule and read
"231" did he realize the magnitude. He wrote in the log: "Will they believe it?" Winds
continued to roar through the afternoon, but the record storm abated during the
night.
As with any such record, the recording instrument was tested by the Weather Bureau,
and Pagliuca's number has gone into weather history. The Heated Number 2
Anemometer is still on display at the summit of Mount Washington.
The Weather Notebook is produced with funding from Subaru and the National
Science Foundation.
Today's Links
The Big Wind
http://www.mountwashington.org/bigwind/
|
|
