Evening star., 1934-11-18
A Worlds Wind Record
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN,

The greatest wind velocity ever
recorded anywhere in the world was
noted at the observation station on
Mount Washington, N H, by the
United States Weather Bureau. 1t
is characteristic for people to talk
about big winds and it seems to
be somewhat characteristic Of the
American Nation to hang up world
records. While no human can claim
credit for having caused the record
blow on Mount Washington, the in
vention of the instrument which
recorded it can be set down to Amer
ican ingenuity.
1t may be that the wind has blown
as hard at other places in the world
and at other times, but 1t has re-
manned for the all-time worlds rec
ord. so far as scientific proof is con-
cerned, to be established in the
United States. Mount Washington
rises to an altitude of 6,293 feet and
is one of the loftiest peaks in the
East. 1t is the most famous noun
tain in the United States for wind
velocity and for that reason observa-
tions have long been carried on
there. In 1871 the Signal Corps of
the United States Army established
a lookout on the mountain in an
effort to learn something about the
natives tales of great winds. Much
was learned; for example. the nota-
BILE fact that wind velocities of more
than 100 miles an hour were not un-
! usual, especially in the Winter months
To realize what this means, it may
be recalled that in the great West
Indian hurricanes which have brought
destruction to the cities of Florida,
the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico and
other places, the wind does not always
| reach velocitieS as great as 100 miles.
An 80-mile-an-hour wind is of hur-
! ricane force and brings destruction
to ordinary buildings and disaster
! to ships at sea. When winds of 100
miles an hour and more occur the
Weather Bureau calls them super
hurricanes, and such phenomena have
the most absorbing interest for
! weather men. For these reasons, the
| mighty blasts of Mount Washington
have long held scientific attention
and this attention now has been
| justified by the establishment Of an
all-time world speed record
Recordings of Storm.
The afternoon of April 10 was un-
usually calm. The next morning there
| appeared an accumulation of clouds
in the east, along an extended front.
Then the wind began to blow from
the southeast. 1t was a warm wind,
the temperature being only % The
wind got up to 80 miles an hour-a
| very serious matter anywhere else,
| but childs play on Mount Washing
ton. During the following night the
| hourly average did not drop below
| 107 miles an hour. but, in gusts. the
! breeze got up to 1876 miles The ther-
mometer went down and frost began
to form. The wind continued to
mount and. finally. the storm came
to climax between noon and !
o'clock on the 18th
Scientific men, especially meteor
ologists, are rather meticulous about
facts. They checked and rechecked
their instruments and finally had
them analyzed by DR. c. F. Marvin
! for purposes of reviewing extrapola-
ton of corrections just to be sure
| there could be no mistake. This was
thought wise in view Of the we'll
nigh incredible data the instruments
revealed. For while. on an hourly
average, the wind did not reach a
velocity higher than 173 miles an
hour, for periods of less than an hour
: it reached the fantastic speed of 23l
miles. This is4the figure which has
! broken all RECORDS.
| The storm was accompanied only
by frost and. for a brief period. by a
light granular snow. In the main it
was wind storm. In some respects,
| therefore. it might well remind one
| Of the dry gale reported in Dana S