It sure seems like we’ve had our share of blustery breezes so far this March. But has this month actually been unusually windy?
Turns out, the answer is a big ol’ “nope.”
Through March 19, Columbus has had seven days with a top wind gust of at least 30 mph. While that’s a few more than last year, it’s hardly unusual to have six or seven days of hitting that level.
The top wind gust in Columbus isn’t unusual, either. The highest this month has been 45 mph, also pretty much in line with most of what we’ve seen so far in March over the past 10 years.
The long-term climatological average wind speed in March is about 10 mph. Four days so far this month had an average wind speed of at least 15 mph — March 1, 5, 6, and 16 — and those certainly stick out since that’s a full 50% higher than the average wind speed.
Even so, we can expect to have days like that this time of year, as past years have shown us. In fact, mid-February through the end of March is the favored period for the Wilmington National Weather Service to issue Wind Advisories.
If you’re curious about some more wind-related nerdiness, the Iowa Environmental Mesonet has a monthly climatology of wind roses like this one:
