Hurricane Irma may have hit Miami, Florida with winds exceeding 100 mph, but it did not set the record for the fastest wind speed ever recorded. That title belongs to a “Big Wind” that whipped the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire back in 1934, reaching an incredible 231 mph. In 1985, a microburst caused a Delta Airlines flight to crash into the tarmac, and in 2017, Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc with winds over 185 mph.
The fastest winds in the solar system can be found on Neptune, where they blow at a staggering 1,100 mph. On Earth, human-built wind tunnels can create supersonic winds faster than 761.2 mph. The maximum natural wind gust ever recorded on Earth was 253 mph on Barrow Island, Australia in 1996, during a tropical cyclone.
It took over a decade for this record to be confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) due to the private ownership of Barrow Island. The WMO only acknowledges wind speed data from physical instruments like anemometers, which spin when the wind blows. Anemometers have their limitations, such as being susceptible to damage in extreme winds and being limited to where humans can go.
Currently, the WMO is investigating potential record-breaking jet stream speeds over Japan and the Western Pacific Ocean, which could be the world’s strongest winds ever recorded. Another method to measure wind speed is with Doppler radar, which is not considered for wind records by the WMO as they are remote estimates, not direct measurements.
Tornado wind speeds are another category that is not directly measured and recorded by the WMO. However, tornadoes can have wind speeds exceeding 300 mph, as seen in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma in 1999. More recently, wind speeds of 309 to 318 mph were calculated in a tornado in Greenfield, Iowa in 2024, although the margin of error in radar estimation means this is comparable to the 1999 record.
While tornado wind speeds over 400 mph have not been observed yet, it is believed that tornadoes can have wind speeds exceeding 300 mph. The study of extreme wind speeds continues to be a fascinating area of research for scientists like Joshua Wurman, who uses radar devices to study tornadoes and map their wind speeds. As technology advances, we may uncover even more about the incredible power of wind on our planet.
