When I checked the 11:00 AM EDT hurricane updates, I noticed something odd.
NHC: 150 MPH
Weather Underground: 150 MPH (in header), 130 MPH (in graphic)
That 130 MPH number hit me first, because the graphic was what I’d gone there to see. So I decided to go to a couple more weather sites to see what speeds they show.
Zoom Earth: 67 MPH (the highest reading I could find)
Ventusky: I found a spot that was 70 MPH (at 10 meters above ground)
Ventusky lets you select differing altitudes for wind speed.
250 M AGL: 98
1600 feet AGL: 94
2500 feet AGL: 124
3300 feet: 122
At higher altitudes, the winds drop off again.
All those Ventusky and Zoom Earth wind speeds are a far cry from 150 MPH. In fact, it’s a difference between a Cat 4 storm and a Cat 2 or 3. Or Cat 1. Or even “tropical storm.”
Just for reference, the wind speed Ventusky and Zoom Earth show for my area seems to match what I seeing in person.
A few years back, when Matthew blew through, the NHC was reporting us getting hit by hurricane-force winds. But a local webcam (I’d bugged out for that one) showed spanish moss hanging from trees just barely swaying in a light breeze..
We’ve found the same thing. I check buoy data in the Gulf from the National Buoy Center. Winds on several buoy’s never got above 70 mph. We also took some screen shots from the local weather sites, same thing, they lied.