72 A gust that blasted the summit of a peak at Alpine Meadows in February was the fastest non-tornado wind recorded in the United States in 2017. The 199-mph gust was also the fastest ever recorded in California, according to the National Climate Data Center’s Extremes Committee, which sanctioned the mark last week. For comparison, 140-mph winds have been known to pick up and hurl baseball-sized rocks . “Even in winds of 120 mph you can’t stand under your own force,” says Tom Padham, a meteorologist with the Mount Washington Observatory. “You’re knocked over pretty quickly. You wouldn’t be able to stand back up.” New Hampshire’s Mount Washington holds the record for fastest wind speed on U.S. soil — 231 mph. The powerful 199-mph gust whipped Ward Peak in Alpine Meadows ski resort at about 11 p.m. Feb. 20 during a fierce storm driven by an atmospheric river that pummeled the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range. Eric Kurth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sacramento, was working that night when he noticed the astounding wind reading. In powerful storms, gusts up to 100 mph are typical in the Sierra. Anything close to 200 mph is remarkable and rare… Read full this story
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