Wind
Wind speeds over the Arctic Basin and the western Canadian Archipelago average between 4 and 6 metres per second (14 and 22 kilometres per hour, 9 and 13 miles per hour) in all seasons. Stronger winds do occur in storms, often causing whiteout conditions, but they rarely exceed 25 m/s (90 km/h, 55 mph) in these areas (Przybylak 2003).
During all seasons, the strongest average winds are found in the North-Atlantic seas, Baffin Bay, and Bering and Chukchi Seas, where cyclone activity is most common. On the Atlantic side, the winds are strongest in winter, averaging 7 to 12 m/s (25 to 43 km/h, 16 to 27 mph), and weakest in summer, averaging 5 to 7 m/s (18 to 25 km/h, 11 to 16 mph). On the Pacific side they average 6 to 9 m/s (22 to 32 km/h, 13 to 20 mph) year round. Maximum wind speeds in the Atlantic region can approach 50 m/s (180 km/h, 110 mph) in winter (Przybylak 2003).
Read more about this topic: Climate Of The Arctic
Famous quotes containing the word wind:
“When we think of him, he is without a hat, standing in the wind and weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to enjoy the cold and the wind of those times.... It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people.”
—E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)
“There, beyond the dykes
I heard wind flaking sapphire, like this summer,
And willows could not hold more steady sound.”
—Hart Crane (1899–1932)
“The wind of their endurance, driving south,
Flattened your words against your speaking mouth.”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)