Boston bursts with wind
“A Gust of Wind,’’ by Gaetano Bellei.
Edited from a Boston Guardian article (except images) by Daniel Larlham Jr. Robert Whitcomb, New England Diary’s editor, is chairman of The Guardian.
Chicago might proudly boast the nickname “Windy City’’ but it’s not nearly the windiest in the United States, and Boston’s surely got them beat when it comes to wind this year.
In fact, the name “Windy City” doesn’t necessarily refer to the gusts coming off Lake Michigan. It was popularized by rival newspapers in other cities during the 1800s, mocking Chicago for its politicians’ bragging in securing the 1893 World’s Fair.
Boston, on the other hand, is generally considered the windiest major metropolitan area in the country, where the overall average wind speed is 12.3 miles an hour. Chicago’s average wind speed is 10.3 miles an hour and doesn’t break the top 10 windiest city on multiple rankings.
“The city itself is windy because in the northeastern United States, we’re kind of at the confluence of several different storm tracks,” said Todd Gross, who worked for decades as a meteorologist in Boston and now covers weather and astronomical events for his half a million Tik Tok followers. “One storm track comes from the north like we’re getting this winter, which is constantly giving us wind.”
The other are the coastal storms commonly known as nor’easters and travel up the coastline. Those provide big winds as well.
One reason that wind speeds recorded in Boston are so fast is that they’re recorded at Logan International Airport, right on Boston Harbor, meaning speeds inside of the city are likely lower depending on where you stand. He still contends that Boston is a windier city than Chicago, but perhaps not windier than, say, Oklahoma City or Amarillo, Texas, which both sit on plains that let wind to travel long distances without obstruction.
“Other cities that I’ve found that are windier than Boston, again not on paper but in reality, would be like Cleveland or Buffalo. Cleveland especially, it’s right on the water of Lake Erie.”
Gross observed that both this winter and last in Boston appear to be windier than average, with more high-wind warnings than he’s remembered in the past. According to a Boston Globe article, 2025 was the windiest year on record, with 165 days in which Logan recorded wind gusts of 30 miles an hour or more.
Wind also comes off the Charles River, Gross said, and Boston’s many skyscrapers create the perfect conditions for wind tunnels between buildings, which can greatly accelerate the speeds inside the city.
“Let’s say it could bring it from almost nearly calm when the building is blocking it to as much as 50-60 miles an hour or more during the time that it is funneling between the actual buildings,” he added.
What it feels like outside can often depend on where you’re standing, and wind is particularly good at making it feel colder by rapidly cooling any surface area it meets, including human skin.
