Why has it been so windy? Will it ever stop? Thoughts from the NWS.

BEATRICE - It’s been a theme for the spring of 2022 across Nebraska. Every radio and television weather report reads the words “blustery”, “windy”, and “breezy” day after day.

Brian Smith of the National Weather Service in Omaha explained why this spring has been so windy - seemingly, windier than any in recent memory. Additionally, as summer rolls around, wind variations may begin to subside across the Cornhusker state.

“The reason why it’s been so windy is we have these weather systems come through bringing northwest winds, then strong south winds,” Smith said. “It’s a reflection of the stronger upper level wind flow.”

One of the reasons the winds have been a point of conversation for Nebraskans all spring, is what has resulted because of the wind.

“It’s created problems like wildfires and grass fires,” Smith said. “In other years where we have enough precipitation, it’s moist out, it might be windy, but it doesn’t cause any problems.”

According to Smith, part of those problems, that stem from how windy it’s been this spring, result simply from Nebraska’s landscape. Large areas of wide-open spaces and valleys where wind can flow openly, compared to other parts of the country where different landscapes can subdue winds and their speeds.

“If you’re in an area with a lot of trees, like the Deep South, such as Mississippi or Alabama, it helps temper the wind a bit,” Smith said. “That will temper the wind, you’re not going to get the strong wind gusts like here, because it’s obstructed by the trees.”

Sustained winds at 15-20 miles per hour have been common place all spring for much of the state. Smith says the spring is easily one of Nebraska’s windiest times of the year, but it comes on the heels of a time when he sees the wind finally slowing down.

“As we transition from spring, into the summer, that wind, with the jet stream moving further to the north, into the Dakota’s and into Canada, that’s when it calms down quite a bit,” Smith said. “It’s generally in the spring time when we get many of these windy conditions.”