You’ll Be Blown Away by These Cities
Melbourne Australia, where I live, doesn’t get a mention on the list of windiest cities in the world. Somebody hasn’t done their homework. It should be near the top of the list. At least that part of Melbourne where I am— Doncaster Hill.
Doncaster Hill doesn’t rate when it comes to the windiest places on earth but the people who put these statistics together have never asked me. If they did, I would tell them of the many days I’ve trudged up Tram Road against gale-force winds. I don’t have any figures to support my contention. But at times when strong winds come whipping around that corner from the south or the west, I am fortunate to stay on my feet.
Windier than Doncaster Hill, or any city on the globe, is Wellington New Zealand. Anyone who has ever been there can attest to that. On the waterfront is a life-size cast-iron statue of a naked man leaning against the harbor wind. Called Solace in the Wind, it represents the daily ordeal of Wellingtonians.
With average wind speeds of 43 kph (27 mph) and gale force winds of 63 to 87 kph (39 to 54 mph) on 233 days of the year, it leaves all other cities in its turbulent wake.
In the 1960s-70s, Wellington City found it necessary to erect rope barriers on street corners to prevent pedestrians from being blown onto the road. As more tall buildings were erected, building codes were quickly established to ensure strong winds whipping around those buildings were less threatening. The rope barriers have gone but the winds remain.
Toronto Roped Off
Another windy city is Toronto, Canada. Toronto encountered the same problems as Wellington when there was a sudden surge of skyscraper construction in the 1970s and 1980s so great that it challenged the number of tall buildings in Hong Kong and New York City. Once again, ropes were deployed for the safety of pedestrians
Toronto’s building regulations couldn’t keep pace with the construction of tall buildings and consequently wind funnels developed between the skyscrapers which pushed strong winds down to street level. In winter, a funneling (or downwashing) wind is more hazardous in Toronto because of icy conditions.
Had the ropes not been there, pedestrians could have found themselves skidding rapidly along footpaths, grasping at lampposts, mailboxes or other pedestrians to stop the momentum. With the enacting of new building codes, those ropes have gone.
Torontonians were first alerted to the wind problems shortly after construction in 1965 of their new city hall. The building consists of two curved slabs surrounding a low circular city hall chamber. The two shell-like structures are aerodynamically like the curved wings of an airplane.
When the wind hits the towers, a vortex is created, strong enough to blow people over. In the early part of its history, safety barriers were erected to prevent pedestrians being blown off the elevated walkway that surrounds Nathan Phillips Square in front of the building.
North and South America almost have a monopoly on windy cities. Others include St John’s Newfoundland, Dodge City Kansas, San Francisco California, Punta Arenas Chile and Rio Gallegos Argentina. Long known as the ‘Windy City’, Chicago is excluded because its tag has less to do with the weather than it does with blustery politicians
Australia’s windiest city, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), is Perth Western Australia. I’ll concede that. Doncaster must be second then. But no. it isn’t even in the top 80. What does that mean — that BOM is generating fake news, or my perception of things is completely wrong?
Like a lot of other people, I prefer to think I’m right and the government’s statistics can’t be trusted, whether it’s weather, Covid 19, or ballot counting.
BOM’s workforce of 2000 and its collection of data over a 115-year history just don’t stack up against my personal opinion.
Where do I go from here? Should I continue trudging up the street against gale-force winds, muttering about the fake news of government statistics….
Or should I gather together a group of like-minded individuals and storm the Parliament Buildings?
Al Turley (A R T)