By Jesse Wood
Grandfather Mountain experienced wind gusts above 100 mph during a five-hour period between 11 p.m. on Saturday and 3 a.m. on Sunday, according to data archived CRONOS database on the State Climate Office of North Carolina’s website.
During that same five-hour period, the wind speed averaged about 70 miles per hour at Grandfather Mountain. While the wind speed peaked at 72.9 mph around 1 a.m. on Sunday, the wind gust peaked at 109.3 mph at about the same time.
The highest recorded wind speed atop Grandfather Mountain (since the National Weather Service approved monitor was installed in February 2007) is 120.7 mph, recorded on Dec. 21, 2012.
In 2006, 200 mph winds were recorded on Grandfather Mountain but groups – including the National Weather Service – wouldn’t officially record the data because the wind gauge was “not sited according to standards,” a State Climate Office of North Carolina official told the Associated Press in 2006.
Prior to the 200 mph wind episode, the previous record was 196 mph set in 1997.
In 2006, National Weather Service-approved site was installed, thus the current record of 120.7 mph.
The elevation of the meteorological station at Grandfather Mountain is 5,280 feet.
Check out a graph of wind speeds at Grandfather Mountain on Saturday and Sunday below:
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