This study examines the spatial and temporal characteristics of high‐wind events (HWEs) based on the National Weather Service high‐wind criteria for 391 first‐order weather stations in the eastern United States from 1973 to 2015. A geographical analysis on the frequency of sustained and gust HWEs shows that the highest occurrences were reported in the Great Plains and Great Lakes, while the lowest number of observations occurred in the Mid‐South and Southeast. Linear trends show that the yearly frequency of sustained and gust HWEs are significantly decreasing (−0.579 days/year) and increasing (0.943 days/year) respectively during the 43‐year study period. These trends do not persist when the HWE data are normalized (long‐term mean is removed from the yearly count), but shows a cyclical anomaly pattern for both sustained and gust winds. Overall, 90 and 82% of all sustained and gust HWEs occur from the northwest or southwest quadrant, but when interpreted from a spatial perspective the mean wind direction of HWEs can be classified into specific regional wind groupings. However, this persistent southwesterly wind direction has gradually shifted to a more southerly (northerly) orientation for sustained (gust) HWEs over the study period.
This study investigates convective and non-convective high-wind events (CWEs and NCWEs) across the eastern U.S. during a 43-year climatological period (1973-2015) for spatial and temporal variations in wind speed and direction. Hourly surface wind observations were gathered from the National Centers for Environmental Information Data Center Integrated Surface Database (NCEI-ISD). This dataset includes quality-controlled wind observations from 391 first-order weather stations in the eastern U.S. Findings show that high-wind events (HWEs) meeting established National Weather Service criteria were most concentrated in the West North Central and South regions (High Plains) and fewer CWEs occurred during the study period compared to NCWEs. Gust CWEs increased significantly (1.95 days year −1) while sustained NCWEs decreased significantly (−0.58 days year −1). Mean wind directions were observed primarily in the southwest and northwest quadrants. Mean wind speed decreased at a statistically significant level for sustained CWEs, gust CWEs, and sustained NCWEs. Developing an extensive climatological understanding of convective and non-convective high-wind events is beneficial to mitigate damage and fatalities caused by these events.
<p>The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a high-frequency oscillation that has known influences on the climatology of weather patterns across the eastern United States. This study explores the relationship between the daily North Atlantic Oscillation index with observed high-wind events from 391 first-order weather stations across the eastern U.S. from 1973-2015. These events were determined following typical National Weather Service high-wind criteria: sustained winds of at least 18 m&#8226;s-1 for at least 1 hour or a wind gust of at least 26 m&#8226;s-1 for any duration. Since research literature shows high-wind events are often connected to parent mid-latitude cyclone tracks, and since the NAO has been shown to influence these storm tracks, it is hypothesized that changes in NAO phases are connected to spatial shifts and frequencies in high-wind observations. Initial results show a preferred southwesterly direction during each NAO phase. Variance in high-wind directions appears to increase (decrease) during negative (positive) NAO phases. Further, the greatest spatial difference in the mean center of high-wind observations was between positive and negative NAO phases. Overall, these preliminary findings indicate changes in high-wind observations may be linked to NAO phases.</p>
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