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California has a new wind-speed record: 199 mph

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 2:24 pm
by rlown
California has a new wind-speed record: 199 mph

ASSOCIATED PRESS BY ASSOCIATED PRESS | January 12, 2018, 9:09AM | Updated 2 hours ago.
SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists say a 199-mph gust that blasted a mountaintop at the Alpine Meadows ski resort last February was the strongest wind ever recorded in California.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday it was also the strongest non-tornado wind in the United States last year.

Tom Padham, a meteorologist with the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, tells the San Francisco Chronicle that even in winds of 120 mph, a person is not able to stand.

Mount Washington holds the record for fastest wind speed in the country — a 231-mph gust in April 1934. That stood as the world record for 62 years, until a 253-mph wind was noted during a typhoon on Barrow Island, Australia.

The 199-mph gust was certified last week as California's strongest-ever wind by the National Centers for Environmental Information, a division of NOAA.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
My source: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/78668 ... wind-speed

Re: California has a new wind-speed record: 199 mph

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:17 pm
by Dave_Ayers
Well that's interesting. Around Mammoth, they like to refer to the "Devils Windstorm" back in '11 that knocked down so many tress. Easy to see evidence of that today in the Devils Postpile vicinity. The gauge atop Mammoth supposedly railed out at its upper limit of 200 MPH during that storm. Perhaps that gauge was not considered trusty enough to establish the record.