The windiest places in the world

Where is the windiest place in the world? This article will reveal to you the windiest place in the world .

Defining the “windiest place on Earth” depends on how you quantify wind speed. Places with fast average winds rarely have high gusts, and wind gusts are recorded on the ground and in the sky—particularly in tornadoes. So the definition of a high wind zone is always subject to change; however, all of the following places are known for having high gusts.

From coastal Newfoundland to the capital of Azerbaijan, and from the US Midwest to New Zealand, find out where the windiest places in the world are and what makes them so windy.

Table of Contents

• Wellington, New Zealand (248 km/h)
• Shetland Islands, UK (278 km/h)
• Mount Everest, China and Nepal (282 km/h)
• Kirkwood Mountain, California, USA (336 km/h)
• Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA (372 km/h)
• Barrow Island, Australia (408 km/h)
• Oklahoma City, USA (486 km/h)
• Antarctica

Wellington, New Zealand (248 km/h)

The New Zealand capital has an average annual wind speed of 47km/h, strong enough to make you run for cover and squint when you encounter it. The highest wind speed ever recorded in the city was 248km/h during a storm in the winter of 1962. Photo: Milosz Maslanka.

Shetland Islands, UK (278 km/h)

According to Met Office data, the Shetland Islands, located between the northern tip of Scotland and the Faroe Islands, are the windiest destination in the UK. The average wind speed on the islands is 24 km/h, with gusts of over 278 km/h recorded in 1986. Photo: Chris Furlong.

Mount Everest, China and Nepal (282 km/h)

At 8,848m, Mount Everest experiences strong winds of over 161 km/h in winter. In February 2004, a record wind speed at the summit was recorded at 282 km/h. The calmest months for climbing are from May to September. Photo: Vixit.

Kirkwood Mountain, California, USA (336 km/h)

In February 2020, at a resort just south of Lake Tahoe, Kirkwood Mountain in California, a gust of wind reached 336 km/h at an altitude of 2,800 m above the ground. Photo: George Rose.

Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA (372 km/h)

Mount Washington is the highest mountain in the northeastern United States and is located in the hurricane belt, with an average annual wind speed of 51 km/h, and an average of 74 km/h in the windiest month (January). In April 2934, the site recorded a wind speed of 372 km/h. Photo: Spencer Grant.

Barrow Island, Australia (408 km/h)

The average annual wind speed on Barrow Island is just 19km/h. But in April 1996, the island witnessed a tornado from Hurricane Olivia with winds of 408km/h. Photo: Totajla.

Oklahoma City, USA (486 km/h)

The strongest wind gust ever recorded on Earth was 300 mph (486 km/h) when a tornado hit the Bridge Creek area of ​​Oklahoma City in May 1999. Photo: Gerson Repreza.

Antarctica

How strong are the winds in the world’s polar regions? It’s hard to say because instruments often freeze and stop working. Those that don’t freeze are sometimes blown away in the harsh polar weather. Blowing snow can also fool sonic anemometers.

In any case, Antarctica holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest katabatic (downhill wind) wind, at 168 mph, recorded in 1912 at Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay. The region's average daily maximum wind speed for the year is 44 mph, which qualifies as hurricane strength (greater than 39 mph).

Antarctica's cold temperatures and its terrain, which slopes down toward the coast, influence weather patterns. The geography creates strong downhill winds that can cause blizzard-like conditions for weeks.