CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
THE BEGINNING OF WINDY SEASON:
At 5:37 AM on March 20th, we opened up the door to spring. But opening up that door also means we are now officially in Charlotte's "windy season."
The last day of winter (March 19th, Friday) and the first day of spring were the breeziest days of March so far, averaging a breeze at over 11 mph.
Moving forward you will start to notice that there will be more breezy days than those calm days that were more common during winter. As you can see below, March and April are the windiest months in Charlotte, based on record-keeping from 1941 to 2020.
So far, March 2021 has had a below normal, average wind speed at only around 7.0 mph. This average will continue to climb for the rest of the month as more windy days will be on tap. And last year (even though it may have seemed windier due to the pandemic) was a below-average wind season for the 3 months that make up spring record keeping in the weather world.
BUT WHY IS IT WINDIER THIS TIME OF YEAR?
Spring is to blame, or what happens during spring. As we transition from winter the spring, the amount of daylight is getting longer each day which gives us more time to warm up. The warmer we get in the sunnier parts of the U.S. will cause higher temperature fluctuations and pressure differences which is the cause of wind!
The greater the pressure difference, the stronger the winds will be. We often times will have average sea level pressure lines on our maps. The closer these lines are together, the stronger the winds are. This can be seen especially around strengthening low-pressure systems. Like this evolving system.
A strong low or a tropical storm/hurricane will have these lines closely around the center as pictured above.
So in conclusion, the warmer we get the stronger some of these pressure systems will be, which will increase the wind field. Also, winds are the biggest culprit for increasing our pollen count, so the winds just enhance spring allergies on some days more than others.
Welcome to the Carolinas Windy Season. Take it easy and stay breezy everyone.