A single gust of wind can travel twice as fast as the average storm speed
Atmospheric pressure gradients and shear turbulence allow individual wind gusts to reach speeds double that of the overall storm, creating localized bursts of energy that far exceed the average wind velocity.
During intense weather events like extratropical cyclones, the average speed of a storm rarely tells the whole story. Localized gusts are often driven by pressure gradients as sharp as 5 hectopascals per 100 kilometers, causing wind to accelerate rapidly in short bursts. This phenomenon, known as the gust factor, typically results in peak speeds 1.5 to 2 times higher than the sustained mean wind.
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