Calm April Days

Posted: 24 Apr 2024 05:30 AM, Views: 1050
Tags:   wind   april  
Winds were again gusty on Tuesday with Des Moines topping 40 MPH for a peak gust during the afternoon hours. Many Iowans would likely claim that our Aprils have gotten windier than in the past. Recency bias certainly helps to reinforce this idea, but perhaps some data plots could help with this question. A recent tweet by NWSTwinCities pointed out the limited number of days this April that Minneapolis has had a peak wind gust below 30 MPH. The featured chart presents such a metric for Des Moines. Of course, the 2024 total is month to date, but it is still interesting to see the recent down trend in number of days and the 30 year running average is certainly trending in that direction as well. This chart generally points out the problematic nature of long term wind observations, with observation equipment and techniques being significantly different prior to modernization during the early 1970s. This likely explains the regime change with the plot happening near 1973. Anyway, back to this week and the forecast for Wednesday actually turns down the winds, but they will again be cranked up on Thursday.
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