Wind Speed Conversions
The definition of sustained winds recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and used by most weather agencies, is that of a 10-minute average at a height of 10 m (33 ft). However, RSMC Miami and RSMC Honolulu, as well as the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, define sustained winds based on 1-minute average speed (also measured 10 m (33 ft) above the surface).
Studies have shown that the two definitions are correlated, with the cyclone's maximum one-minute wind speed conventionally about 14% higher than its best ten-minute one. (To convert from a one-minute wind speed to a ten-minute wind speed, the one-minute speed is multiplied by 0.88. In the other direction, the ten-minute wind speed is multiplied by 1.14 to produce the one-minute wind speed.) This relationship is approximate, as the conversion factor varies with different land or sea surfaces and atmospheric stability.
Read more about this topic: Tropical Cyclone Scales
Famous quotes containing the words wind and/or speed:
“Let thy West Wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes,
And wash the dusk with silver.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“There exist certain individuals who are, by nature, given purely to contemplation and are utterly unsuited to action, and who, nevertheless, under a mysterious and unknown impulse, sometimes act with a speed which they themselves would have thought beyond them.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)