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The Highest Wind Speed Ever Recorded
The speed and location are surprising
The Earth is home to some seriously powerful winds. From massive hurricanes and typhoons that ravage entire regions to powerful localized tornadoes, there are times when the winds reach demonic speeds that wreak terrible destruction. But how fast can the winds on the ground get? What is the fastest wind speed ever recorded on Earth?
The record for the highest wind speed ever measured came out of Australia. Australia is known for many interesting and unique things, but typhoons are not generally one of them. Despite that, it was a typhoon that brewed in the Timor Sea that created the highest ever recorded wind blast on Earth.
The Record
On April 10th, 1996, the powerful eyewall of Cyclone Olivia passed over a small coastal island off northwestern Australia. As the powerful storm roared overhead, a private anemometer (wind speed meter) recorded a wind gust of 253mph. The winds roared for three seconds at those blistering speeds.
The speed was so ridiculously high that, initially, researchers believed that the gust must have been misread.
