I recently mentioned that September to November were statistically the windiest period of the year in Nelson Mandela Bay and surrounds.
The first week of this month’s weather did not play along with the statistics, but the tide turned this week and September started living up to its reputation.
I also mentioned that I would settle the argument once and for all about the windiest city/place in our country.
Most believe that Cape Town is the top contender, while I have a friend who believes the Strand to be far windier than the Bay.
Alas, the statistics do not agree with her.
I must reiterate that this list is made up of places where wind speed is measured.
Statistics for average wind speed and percentage of gale force winds, as well as maximum wind speeds, were considered in the rankings.
The top five windiest places, with average wind speeds, are Cape Point 26km/h, Cape St Francis 21km/h, Slangkop (Kommetjie between Cape Town CBD and Cape Point) 19km/h Gqeberha Airport 19km/h and Cape Town Weather Office 18km/h.
Cape Point and Cape St Francis are in a league of their own, yielding maximum hourly wind speeds of more than 110 and 85km/h, respectively.
Their maximum gusts are both well beyond the 150km/h mark.
Cape Point has a full-blown gale 6% of the time, compared with 0.06% of the time in the Bay.
The question is thus, do we talk about Cape Town as the CBD, the airport, or the metro?
The same can be said for our beloved Bay.
The wind at the Gqeberha airport (very exposed) and on the Wild Side (Seaview, Willows and Schoonies) is comparable.
Our old harbour, the CBD and the beachfront are very protected as they are at a lower level than the airport and generally the westerly overshoots them.
Most of the Bay’s residents live in areas halfway to Kariega.
They experience much lower wind speeds than the airport, as is the case with areas around Coega.
The Cape Town airport and surrounding residential areas are far from the coast and partially protected by the topography.
Besides Slangkop on the coast, just south of the CBD, there are no wind-measuring stations near the CBD.
I would love to see figures from Camps Bay and Sea Point or even Fish Hoek and Hout Bay.
As Cape Point and Slangkop are part of the Cape Town metro, Coega and Kariega are also part of ours.
If you average that out, Cape Town would top the list of windiest places and push our Bay lower on the list.
It is then official, the Cape Town metro is the windiest place where wind is measured, followed closely by the Cape St Francis Lighthouse, being far south and having one foot in the sea, as they say.
Finally, I must ask one question: “Have you ever seen a video clip or a photo of a person being pushed backwards by the wind in the Bay?”
We often see these pics of the Cape Town CBD.
The 2017 Cape Argus cycle race was cancelled because of the wind.
I cannot recall anything similar happening here.
This week in history:
1964 Floods in Knysna and the Bay.
Weather Safety Tips:
In windy conditions keep a firm grip on your steering wheel. Sudden gusts channelled by buildings can suddenly drive you off course.
HeraldLIVE
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