Is Cedar Rapids One of America’s Windiest Cities?
It always seems like it's windy in Cedar Rapids, especially this time of the year. That led me to wonder if we have one of the windiest locations in the U.S. The answer surprised me.
Turns out, Cedar Rapids isn't even close to one of the windiest cities in the U.S. The map below shows a large part of tornado alley is, historically, one of the windiest areas of the country. According to Weatherspark, the average wind speed in Cedar Rapids ranges from only around seven miles-per-hour about August 5 to a high of 12 miles-per-hour on or around April 6. I guess it's no surprise it's been so windy lately. It literally IS the windiest time of the year in our city. However, the average wind speed in this part of Iowa is only between six and 7.5 miles-per-hour. Who would've guessed that?
To zoom in on specific areas on the map above, click here.
Which cities battle the strongest winds of all? According to The Weather Channel, here are America's ten windiest cities with populations of 100,000 or more:
#10 Buffalo, New York 11.8 mph
#9 Abilene, Texas 11.9 mph
#8 Corpus Christi, Texas 12 mph
#7 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 12.2 mph
#6 Fargo, North Dakota 12.2 mph
#5 Wichita, Kansas 12.2 mph
#4 Boston, Massachusetts 12.3 mph
#3 Lubbock, Texas 12.4 mph
#2 Rochester, Minnesota 12.6 mph
#1 Amarillo, Texas 13.6 mph
[via The Weather Channel and Weatherspark]