KLAQ
Daniel Paulus
Published: January 11, 2024

Yes we know Chicago is called the "Windy City" but it turns out some of the highest wind speeds to ever exist came from Texas. Of course they get some really bad winds but there are several Texas cities with faster winds; ones that can contender for that title of being the true "Windy City".

What's the windiest city in Texas?

There are various sources that list several different Texas cities as the windiest; for instance RedFin listed

• Wichita Falls that had an average wind speed of 11.2 mph
• Abilene's average wind speed is 10.9 mph; the highest was 78 mph in 1983.
• Corpus Cristi had an average speed of 11.7 mph with the highest being 161 mph in 1970
• Lubbock with an average wind speed of 12 mph; the highest reaching 90 mph in 1952.

Meanwhile Stone Claims listed their top 6; they also had Corpus Cristi & Lubbock on their list.

But the #1 city that both lists, and even the National Weather Service agreed with, is Amarillo.

Yes if you want a TRUE "windy city", look no further than the Texas Panhandle; on average their wind speeds clock at nearly 13mph with the highest wind speed being 84 mph on May 15, 1949. However they've had gusts reach 81 mph 3 times in their history.

To show just how powerful the gusts can be, just watch what it does to a semi on the road...

And this is just the normal winds... we haven't even talked about tornadoes. On a truly bad day, Texas can see tornado speeds reach over 200 mph. There have been 6 times in history that winds have reached between 261-318 mph; the most recently being the Jarrell F5 tornado in 1997. Aka... the Dead Man Walking tornado.

So next time you're traveling through Texas, or the Panhandle, make sure you strap down everything. Don't let the wind blow anything away.