ALTHOUGH GUSTY WINDS CAN OCCUR IN ANY TIME OF THE YEAR SPRING IS
CLIMATOLOGICALLY THE WINDIEST TIME OF YEAR IN THE MOJAVE DESERT
INCLUDING LAS VEGAS. DURING THE SPRING MONTHS UPPER-LEVEL TROUGHS
FREQUENTLY PASS THROUGH THE AREA EVERY SO MANY DAYS BUT UNLIKE THE
WINTER MONTHS OFTEN LACK SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE. THE DRIER STATE THAT
THE ATMOSPHERE IS IN TYPICALLY HELPS TO ALLOW STRONGER WINDS ALOFT
TO MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE MORE EASILY WHEN UPPER TROUGHS MOVE
THROUGH. THESE WINDS AT THE TIME OF AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH PASSAGE
CAN BE ESPECIALLY STRONG WHEN A POWERFUL BELT OF WINDS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE JET STREAM MOVES OVERHEAD AND/OR SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS
ARE TIGHTLY PACKED.
THIS SPRING...PERHAPS MORE THAN IN THE PAST FEW YEARS...LAS VEGANS
HAVE FREQUENTLY BEEN COMMENTING ON THE WINDS. SO HAS THIS SPRING
REALLY BEEN THAT WINDY? THE ANSWER IS YES...AND NO...WHEN YOU LOOK
AT THE CLIMATOLOGY OF WINDS IN LAS VEGAS.
METEOROLOGICAL SPRING IS CONSIDERED THE MONTHS OF MARCH...APRIL AND
MAY. FOR THESE THREE MONTHS COMBINED THE NORMAL AVERAGE WIND SPEED
BASED ON THE PERIOD FROM 1971-2000 IS 10.7 MPH. AVERAGE WIND IS THE
AVERAGE OF ALL THE SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS RECORDED ON A GIVEN DAY.
BREAKING IT DOWN BY EACH MONTH THE NORMAL AVERAGE WIND SPEED IS AS
FOLLOWS...
MARCH 10.1 MPH
APRIL 11.0 MPH
MAY 11.2 MPH
SO FAR THIS SPRING THE AVERAGE WIND SPEEDS HAVE BEEN...
MARCH 9.6 MPH
APRIL 10.9 MPH
MAY 12.6 MPH
SPRING 11.0 MPH
THROUGH 5/10.
COMPARING THESE NUMBERS TO THE THIRTY YEAR AVERAGE SHOWS BOTH MARCH
AND APRIL WERE LESS WINDY THAN NORMAL.
HOWEVER LOOKING BACK THROUGH THE RECORD BOOKS ONE FINDS SEVERAL
INTERESTING STATISTICS...
GOING BACK TO THE 1970S...THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED FOR THIS DECADE FOR
MARCH...APRIL AND MAY WAS 10.8 MPH. 1978 WAS THE LEAST WINDIEST
SPRING THAT DECADE AT 9.8 MPH WHILE 1977 WAS THE WINDIEST AT 12.0
MPH.
THE 1980S HAD AN AVERAGE WIND SPEED OF 12.9 MPH FOR SPRING. THE
LEAST WINDY SPRING THAT DECADE WAS 1987 WITH AN AVERAGE OF 10.0 MPH.
1989 WAS THE WINDIEST AT 12.7 MPH.
IN THE 1990S THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS 10.6 MPH FOR SPRING. 1992
WAS THE LEAST WINDY SPRING THAT DECADE WITH AN AVERAGE WIND SPEED OF
8.7 MPH WHILE 1991 WAS THE WINDIEST WITH AN AVERAGE OF 11.7 MPH.
FOR THE PERIOD OF 2000-2009 THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED FOR MARCH...APRIL
AND MAY WAS 8.8 MPH. 2009 WAS THE LEAST WINDY WITH AVERAGE OF 8.1
MPH WHILE 2000 WAS THE WINDIEST WITH AN AVERAGE OF 10.5 MPH. IT IS
ALSO WORTH MENTIONING THAT SINCE 2002 EACH SPRING IN LAS VEGAS HAS
HAD AN AVERAGE WIND SPEED NO HIGHER THAN 8.8 MPH. THUS LAST SPRING
WAS THE LEAST WINDIEST SPRING IN LAS VEGAS IN AT LEAST THE LAST 30
YEARS AND THIS SPRING HAS BEEN THE WINDIEST SPRING IN LAS VEGAS IN
THE LAST TEN YEARS. THUS WHILE SPRING 2010 HAS BEEN WINDY IN LAS
VEGAS...THE LESS WINDIER SPRINGS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE MADE THE
SPRING OF 2010 SEEM MUCH WINDIER...EVEN THOUGH IT IS ONLY 0.3 MPH
HIGHER THAN NORMAL BASED ON AVERAGES FROM MARCH 1ST THROUGH MAY 10TH.
Info Courtesy
NWS Las Vegas
