On 27/08/11 23:53, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:04:51 +0100, Fonzy wrote:

winds up to 80mph, wow

Sustained or gust?

The other side of the pond and in relation to hurricanes the quoted
speeds refer to sustained wind speeds.

This side of the pond most weather reports that headline wind speeds
generally are refering to a single peak gust at an exposed place for
the entire storm.

Such gusts are anything from 10 to 20mph above the sustained wind
speed.

The British media give a very false impression to the general public
of what a sustained winds speed of 60mph is actually like. It'll have
you off your feet given half a chance and would wreak devastation
through an normal urban enviroment.

--
Cheers Dave.
Nr Garrigill, Cumbria. 421m ASL.




Bear in mind though that the 80 mph sustained is the peak anywhere in
the storm, not the peak experienced on land. In Irene's case, the
strongest winds will be over water to the east of the eye so it is
likely the US East Coast (N Carolina excepted) will experience winds
quite a bit below this peak.