Anyone know which cities have most winds calm days?

kicktireslightfires

kicktireslightfires

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kicktireslightfires
Anyone aware of any charts that track which cities have most winds calm days of the year? Winds calm day meaning any METAR issued with winds as calm during daylight hours.
 
Not a list exactly, but this website graphically shows historical wind roses on a map of the U.S. You can kind of scroll around and zoom in, looking for those airports with the smallest overall size of the wind rose (indicating low wind speed).

https://windhistory.com/

For example, O54, Weaverville, CA shows as 67% calm.

https://windhistory.com/station.html?KO54

Not surprisingly, my home, OKC, shows just 6% calm.
 
EdFred said:
Yes.
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I like it when making a business call and ask the assistant if I can speak to her boss. They ask, "can I tell them who's calling?" I say. "Sure, go ahead" and the silence is very loud until they get it. Funny part is, some never do ... o_O
 
RussR said:
Not a list exactly, but this website graphically shows historical wind roses on a map of the U.S. You can kind of scroll around and zoom in, looking for those airports with the smallest overall size of the wind rose (indicating low wind speed).

https://windhistory.com/

For example, O54, Weaverville, CA shows as 67% calm.

https://windhistory.com/station.html?KO54

Not surprisingly, my home, OKC, shows just 6% calm.
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That's why I buy black vehicles so that I can be continually disappointed in their appearance 20 minutes after I wash/detail it, lol.
 
Probably inversely related to the list of cities with the most fogged in days per year.
 
Daleandee said:
I like it when making a business call and ask the assistant if I can speak to her boss. They ask, "can I tell them who's calling?" I say. "Sure, go ahead" and the silence is very loud until they get it. Funny part is, some never do ... o_O
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When buying a gallon of milk, the cashier asks if I want it in a bag. I ponder for a second, and then say no, please leave it in the container it's already in.
 
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I fly to a couple river bottom turf airports and it is calm most days because of hills keeping the winds away.
 
I much prefer a 10 knot wind on the nose when landing as opposed to calm.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I think I flew on only one truly calm day during my Private training. I didn't know what to do when lining up for the runway, so I did a slip anyway lol.
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I joke about it, but it's true. As you know, when the wind is calm, it messes everybody up. Everybody lands long, misses their normal exit taxiway, etc. Even after decades of flying I do it too, and I just laugh at myself. You are SO used to that 10-15+ knot headwind and the resultant power setting and sight picture that when it's calm, you end up landing halfway down the runway.
 
I fly in San Diego, and the weather here is never calm, but almost always fairly light, and mostly down the runway. It's a glorious place to fly, unless you have to go anywhere else :).

There are places nearby which are quite windy (Borrego Springs comes to mind), so it is possible to get practice in those conditions, but given how few planes you see flying on the few windy days, I'm not sure many people find that as appetizing as I do :).
 
I'm curious as to why this is important to you? I know that when the Wright brothers were looking for a place to test their gliders they wrote the department of interior and asked where the most consistent winds were. That's how they came up with Kill Devil hill. Why are you looking for calm winds?
 
One can often mitigate strong surface winds by flying early, or maybe the last hour of daylight. Of course it doesn’t always work, check local forecasts.

I’ve launched off when stronger surface winds were forecast, on a cross-country. If needed, runway alignment for a fuel stop can become a higher consideration than the fuel price. That 30+ kt wind is much easier to deal with within 20 degrees of the runway heading. Of course plane type and experience factor in.

Kinda common sense, Aviation 101.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I'm curious as to why this is important to you? I know that when the Wright brothers were looking for a place to test their gliders they wrote the department of interior and asked where the most consistent winds were. That's how they came up with Kill Devil hill. Why are you looking for calm winds?
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Which is ironic they did that, because the wind blows pretty consistent at DAY. I guess since they were down in the valley in the city they didn't realize they only needed to head a few miles north of town out of the valley.
 
Todd82 said:
Which is ironic they did that, because the wind blows pretty consistent at DAY. I guess since they were down in the valley in the city they didn't realize they only needed to head a few miles north of town out of the valley.
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Having lived in Dayton for 4 years, I quickly came to realize that the story about the Brothers looking for the windiest place was a bunch of hooey. They obviously were tired of the long, dreary, cold Ohio winters and just wanted to go to the beach for the season.

However, I've also lived in SE Virginia, and have been to Kitty Hawk in the winter, and unfortunately without the internet and sites such as TripAdvisor, the Brothers didn't realize that the NC beaches are cold, windy, and completely devoid of bikini-clad beachgoers during the winter.
 
Weaverville, OR KO54: calm 67% of the time.
 
I don't think there were bikini clad beachgoers at ANY time of the year in 1903...

But seriously, the Wrights were looking for smooth steady winds for their kite and gliding experiments, the kind you get on the coast with an onshore breeze, a natural wind tunnel. Inland there's a lot more variation from thermic activity.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I didn't know what to do when lining up for the runway, so I did a slip anyway lol.
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:rofl: Exactly! It was especially windy this winter (or so it seemed) around here in the DC area. First non-windy day this spring when I was coming back home, it was like flying on rails. I mean just perfectly smooth coming down on final... right on speed, right on centerline, runway staying in the same place in the windscreen (not viewed from the side window!)... So so hard not to mess with power/pitch or try to crab into a non-existent wind. I think I had my longest landing of the year that day... still in the TDZ, but most certainly longer than the ones where my hands and feet were super busy.
 
You will certainly want to stay away from Wyoming, unless you want wind practice
 
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