Dec 26th winds

The National Weather Service in Duluth, MN didn't say anything about the strong winds Monday afternoon. In fact, by calling for wind gusts only up to 30 mph, they blew the forecast (pardon the pun).

I compiled a list of the highest wind gusts measured across the Northwoods and plotted them on a map (to the right).

The highest wind gust I found was 47 mph at Ashland's airport. The site has open exposure on a hill top, so naturally the open areas will feel the wind more than a location at a lower elevation or surrounded by forest and hills.

Windy enough for a Wind Advisory?

The threshold for issuing a Wind Advisory is listed as:  "sustained winds are forecast between 30 and 39 miles per hour, or gusts ranging from 45 to 57 miles per hour".

For a brief period of time, the open fields south of the city of Ashland probably met Wind Advisory criteria. But it was only a couple of hours and I think the winds caught the Weather Service off guard, these wind speeds were not in the forecast and NWS Duluth didn't acknowledge the event.