Surface Wind Tabulation

The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has, in archive, a number of historical surface wind tabulation forms for selected stations in the United States and selected worldwide U.S. military installations. The tabulations were prepared by the NCDC over a number of years for customers who had need of the information. The usual input for these wind direction versus wind speed tabulation forms is the simultaneous observation of wind speed and direction recorded hourly 24 times a day. Most wind tabulations contain a minimum of 5 years of record with 24 observations per day. Information on the "Type A" forms includes monthly, seasonal, or annual data, and period of record. Speed groups may be in knots, or mps. Wind directions are to 16 compass points plus calm. Totals represent total frequency by direction and by speed groups. Percent represents total frequency by direction or speed group divided by the total number of observations for indicated period, rounded to tenths of percent. "Type B" forms show wind direction versus wind speed and wind rose tabulations, and are generally used to determine wind patterns at a station. Wind Patterns, in turn, can be useful in determining the best airfield runway orientations.