Did you know that the highest wind speed ever recorded is 371 km per hour?

This speed was measured on April 12, 1934, at Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, USA. The wind force (Beaufort scale) corresponding to this wind speed is 12. Wind force 12 represents speeds of 117 km/h and higher. The Beaufort scale does not go higher than force 12.

For comparison, the highest average wind speed of Hurricane Rita (a category 5 hurricane) in 2005 was 280 km/h.

Wind is created by the pressure difference between a high-pressure area and a low-pressure area. Wind arises because air naturally flows from the high-pressure area to the low-pressure area. There are more factors that influence the wind.

The photo accompanying this article was taken by Gorupka via flickr.com