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World: Maximum Surface Wind Gust (Tropical Cyclone)

Record Value 94.4 m/s (211.3 mph)
Date of Record 22:35 UTC, 30/8/2008
Length of Record June, 1949 - present
Instrumentation Dines pressure tube anemometer
Geospatial Location Paso Real de San Diego meteorological station in Pinar del Rio, Cuba [22°33'N, 83°18'W, elevation: 44m (144 ft)]

References

Discussion

WMO Committee: The members of the evaluation committee are:

Dr. Tom Peterson [US National Climatic Data Center and head of the CCl OPAG II)], Dr. Pierre Bessemoulin [President of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Climatology (CCl)], Dr. Jose M. Rubiera Torres [Cuban Instituto de Meteorología],Dr. John (Jack) Beven [National Hurricane Center],Dr. John King [British Antarctic Survey],Dr. Randy Cerveny Rapporteur of Climate Extremes [Arizona State University School of Geographical Sciences]

Wind Gust recorded at the Paso Real de San Diego meteorological station in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, during hurricane Gustav. The Dines pressure tube anemometer recorded a gust of 94.4 meters per second (340 kilometers per hour, 211.3 miles per hour). Dr. Rubiera noted: “The graph is neat and the instrument was in perfect technical working condition. The wind peaked up to 340 km/h and then the anemometer mast fell over the concrete roof of the station’s building, sharply interrupting the measurement ... wind gusts were increasing at a regular pace with time, until the instrument broke down when it got to the 340 km/h mark."

More documentation will soon be forthcoming.

Previous Record for Tropical cyclone wind gust: 78 ms-1 Chetumal, Mexico, 27-28 September 1953 (Dunn and Miller, 1964)

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