The summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire is a windy place. In fact it’s among the windiest place on Earth. The Mount Washington Observatory recorded record highest wind speeds back in 1934, with speeds reaching 231 miles per hour. That record would stand until 1996, but it’s still the fastest wind speed ever recorded by a staffed weather station.
The observatory continues to record pretty unbelievable wind speeds every year. This past February, for example, gusts reached up to 161 miles per hour, the highest daily peak gust seen on the mountain since 2019. While out taking a look at some instruments in 100mph winds, the summit crew took some time to demonstrate the strength of these speeds, cruising across the observatory deck like sailboats. I assure you they are not on an incline in these videos.
Any winds over 75mph are considered hurricane force according to the National Weather Service. In those speeds, roofs can be ripped off, small mobile homes and RVs can be blown over, and moving vehicles can be pushed off the road. As you can tell by the video, people can easily be pushed around in these winds.
