GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Eastern North Carolina is no stranger to strong winds, especially during hurricane season. Conditions can get even more powerful across the globe.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica as the windiest place on our planet. In 1912, a British-Australian explorer experienced estimated instantaneous wind speeds of 168 mph at Cape Denison. He noted sustained winds over 60 mph can continue for days at a time. 

These are called katabatic winds, created when very cold dense air from the top of the elevated Antarctic ice sheet flows downhill. As the air moves towards the bottom, gravity, and the convergence of the glacial valley accelerate the winds with great consistency over large areas.  

The strongest wind gust ever recorded on land is 253 mph. It was caused by Tropical Cyclone Olivia on Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Australia on April 10, 1996. 

The strongest wind gust in America, and the second strongest on record, occurred on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. The famed 231-mph gust was caused by a low-pressure system migrating up the coast of New England on April 12, 1934. 

The strongest known official wind speed in North Carolina occurred during the Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879. On August 18, Cape Lookout reported a maximum wind speed of 138 mph before the anemometer cups broke or were blown away.

For ENC, the month of June usually has the highest number of wind reports, but luckily we don’t normally see 100 mph winds.