Thursday, March 25, 2010

Everyone Knows it's Windy!

Another article (largely) guessing how Target Field will play this year for the Twins. Not nearly as complete and mathaholic as the previous one. A strange trivia fact was tucked into this one though. Guess where Minneapolis/St Paul rank on the list of windiest major US cities. Give up? Fourth. Yep, fourth. My impression has been that when we have a clear sunny day it's usually windy out. That's probably true.
The top ten list?
  • Milwaukee (averages) - 11.5 mph
  • Dallas - 10.7
  • San Fran - 10.6
  • Minny/St Paul - 10.5
  • Detroit - 10.3
  • Philadelphia - 9.5
  • Miami - 9.2
  • Seattle - 8.9
  • Houston - 7.7
  • Los Angles - 7.5
Notice any town missing? Where is the Windy City, huh? Apparently it's not as Windy as we believe. And the wind is supposedly about nice summer breezes...
"The name of 'Windy City,' which is sometimes used by village papers in New York and Michigan to designate Chicago, is intended as a tribute to the refreshing lake breezes of the great summer resort of the West, but is an awkward and rather ill-chosen expression and is doubtless misunderstood."
Chicago Tribune 11 September 1886
Well, I didn't know that at all. Guess we're all learning stuff.
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2 comments:

Hans said...

According to this:

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/avgwind.html

Chicago's average annual wind speed is 10.3 mph. Not sure why they didn't put in on your list.

Also, Chicago is quite windy when you get in among the skyscrapers and near the water. This speed is probably from O'Hare or somewhere like that. That's not news to you, though.

10:23 AM
Peder said...

You're probably right about it being from O'Hare. There probably is some kind of weather station right near the shoreline and I'm sure that would give a higher number.
I know that Wrigley is a very different park depending on the wind directions. The Cell, not so much. I'm guessing that Target Field will be one of those ballparks where wind conditions are very important.

1:17 PM

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