Western North Carolina Windstorm Breaks Records as Asheville Ties All-Time Gust and Mountain Peaks Top 80 MPH
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA — A powerful wind event swept across the mountains and Upstate region today, producing historic wind gusts that rivaled — and in some cases exceeded — some of the most notable wind events in the region’s history.
At Asheville Regional Airport, a peak wind gust of 64 miles per hour was recorded, tying the all-time record set in March 1993. The gust was nearly 20 mph stronger than the peak wind recorded during Hurricane Helene, underscoring the intensity of today’s event despite the absence of tropical weather.
Asheville Ties All-Time Wind Record
Meteorologists described today as a pure wind event, driven by a powerful atmospheric setup rather than rain-wrapped tropical conditions. While Hurricane Helene brought widespread damage and historic rainfall, today’s system delivered sharper, more intense wind gusts in a shorter time frame.
The 64-mph gust at Asheville officially matches the strongest wind ever recorded at the airport, cementing today’s event in local weather history.
Mountain Locations Record Extreme Gusts
Higher elevations experienced even stronger winds. Instruments measured 88 mph at Grandfather Mountain and 80 mph at Bearwallow Mountain, placing today’s gusts among the strongest observed in recent decades across the Southern Appalachians.
In northern Greenville County, winds reached 59 mph, extending the impact beyond the immediate mountain ridoring and into nearby Upstate communities.
Winds Stronger Than Recent Hurricanes
While hurricanes are often associated with the strongest winds, today’s event demonstrates that non-tropical systems can occasionally produce more intense peak gusts, particularly in mountainous terrain where wind acceleration is enhanced.
Forecasters noted that sustained winds and sudden gusts combined to create hazardous travel conditions, downed tree risks, and scattered power disruptions across exposed areas.
A Remarkable and Historic Weather Day
Weather officials described the event as remarkable and historic, emphasizing how unusual it is for wind speeds to approach hurricane-force levels outside of tropical systems.
Events like this are closely studied, as they highlight the unique vulnerabilities of mountain and foothill communities to extreme wind episodes.
Did you experience the strong winds where you live today? Share what you saw and how conditions impacted your area at SaludaStandard-Sentinel.com, where we continue tracking significant weather events affecting the Carolinas and surrounding regions.
