El Paso is currently experiencing those “big winds” on National Big Wind Day but thank goodness it’s nothing compared to the world record for the fastest wind gust ever recorded on the surface of the Earth.
One of the fastest wind gusts in history was recorded 87 years ago Monday on Mount Washington. On April 12, 1934, a 231-mph gust was recorded by observers at the peak of the mountain. At the time, it was the strongest gust ever recorded on the surface of the Earth.The record was later broken when a weather station in Barrow Island, Australia, recorded a 253-mph gust during Cyclone Olivia in 1996. This gust was verified in 2010 as the word s strongest non-tornadic gust. The Mount Washington gust still is the fastest gust ever observed directly by people and also is the strongest non-cyclone gust. Mount Washington Observatory s write-up about the historic eventThe anniversary is marked every year as National Big Wind Day.