Philadelphia has set a record for days with gusty winds, the weather service says

It probably would not come as a shock to runners, bikers, firefighters, or anyone else who has been paying attention, that Philadelphia set a wind record during the six-month period that ended on April 30.

The National Weather Service reported Friday that on 73 of those days — that’s 40% — wind gusts reached 30 mph, the most in the era of official recordkeeping at Philadelphia International Airport, dating to 1940.

The previous record was 66 days, set in the 2018-19 period.

Meteorologists say the winds likely have contributed to a stubborn dryness and persistent drought conditions, even as rains have been fairly close to normal the last two months.

In tandem with a strengthening sun, winds can speed up the evaporation of water “exponentially,” said Dave Dombek, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc., drying out soils.

Winds also have been the mortal enemy of firefighters battling wildfire blazes.

And we will spare our readers what bikers and runners have to say about the atmospheric bluster.

During much of the period that the weather service studied, systems were moving briskly across the country, with a steady procession of fronts.

Those fronts form at the boundaries of warm and cold air and air of different pressures, or weights. As the atmosphere attempts to maintain a pressure balance, the heavier air naturally moves toward that which is lighter, generating winds.

A separate Inquirer analysis of the period from Jan. 1 to March 20 found that gusts reached 35 mph or higher on 26 of those days — including four with gusts of 50 mph or more. That was more than in any Jan. 1-March 20 period in at least the last 20 years.

In a social media post announcing its findings, the weather service’s Mount Holly office didn’t shy away from the obvious.

“So if you have been thinking it was windier than normal,” it said, “you’d be correct!”