200mph Wind Recorded on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina
WRAL.com reports that a 200mph wind has damaged the visitor center on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. The winds may have been higher but the gauge only reads as high as 200mph.
Officials at Grandfather Mountain said the upper limit on their anemometer is 200 mph, but the needle on the gauge went beyond its limit, leading weather observers to speculate that the wind speeds exceeded 200 mph. The highest wind speed ever recorded in the Eastern U.S. was 231 mph at Mount Washington, N.H. on April 12, 1934.
Grandfather Mountain's summit visitors center suffered extensive damage when the wind blew out three double-strength, steel-wire-reinforced windows, ripped up floor tiles, blew open a locked door; tore a wooden mantel off a wall and upended a 300-pound boulder that was cemented into the parking area.
Winds also knocked down trees leading to power outages in other parts of North Carolina.
