High Wind Climatology for Southern New England From 1993 to 1999

Southern New England is an region of the U.S. that is prone to high wind, most likely due to the confluence of the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and colder arctic air. High wind poses a significant threat to life and property damage, as well as posing an adverse economic impact on the construction, air transportation, and maritime industries. For the purpose of this research, high wind is considered as a measured wind gust greater or equal to 50 knots, wind that produces property damage, injury, or death, which did not originate from convection.

Additionally, the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Taunton, Massachusetts has spent considerable resources in spotter training in association with the NWS modernization. The spotter population in southern New England has tripled during the period from 1994 to 1999. Also, there has been a large increase in around-the-clock automated weather observation equipment. Both of these sources provide an excellent basis of high wind reports that occur in southern New England.

This article will report the results of a high wind climatology for southern New England. The climatology will be broken down by county, month, and time-of-day. Additionally, the climatology will include favored synoptic settings for those days when high wind events occurred.