To answer the question “What is the fastest wind speed ever recorded?”, let’s explore some interesting and memorable records.
In 1934, at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, a strong wind was recorded at a speed of 231 miles per hour (372 km/h).
This record for the highest wind speed on Earth stood until 1996, when a tropical storm swept across Barrow Island, Australia. On April 10, 1996, a wind gauge recorded a natural gust of up to 253 miles per hour (407 km/h), which is currently recognized as the record by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Hurricane Irma hits Miami, Florida, USA with winds over 100 mph (161 km/h), but it did not set a record for the fastest wind speed. (Source: Getty Images).
To verify, this data has been checked for over a decade, as the location is privately owned and the equipment requires thorough validation.
Beyond Earth, wind speeds on Neptune can reach up to 1,100 miles per hour (1,770 km/h), faster than 1.5 times the speed of sound. These are the strongest supersonic winds ever observed by NASA within the Solar System.
Additionally, humans have created impressive wind speeds in laboratories. At NASA’s Glenn Research Center, a supersonic wind tunnel can produce speeds of up to Mach 3.5, equivalent to about 2,685 miles per hour (4,321 km/h). These wind streams are used to study extreme conditions for aircraft and spacecraft.
The WMO only recognizes wind speed records measured by physical instruments, such as anemometers, as these are direct and highly accurate measurements. Doppler radar devices can estimate wind speeds from a distance based on radar waves reflected from raindrops, but these figures are not recognized by the WMO due to being indirect estimates.
In 1999, the strongest tornado wind speed was recorded in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, reaching up to 302 miles per hour (486 km/h) using a “Doppler on Wheels” – a radar mounted on a truck specifically designed to track and map tornadoes remotely.
Recently, in May, another tornado in Greenfield, Iowa, also reached speeds between 309 and 318 miles per hour (497 to 512 km/h), but due to a margin of error, these figures are only equivalent to the 1999 record.
Besides the low-level wind speed records, jet streams – fast-moving air currents at high altitudes – can reach speeds over 275 miles per hour (443 km/h). Some potential records with speeds exceeding 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) have also been recorded in Japan and the Northwest Pacific, measured by radiosondes attached to weather balloons.
Although not officially recognized by the WMO, these figures open up prospects for the strongest winds humanity may be able to record in the future.
