Powerful winds roared along the Atlantic Coast on Monday, stretching from Florida all the way to Maine. But as intense as those gusts were—some hitting speeds in the 60s—they were nothing compared to the extreme winds blasting Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
Famous for its unpredictable and brutal weather, Mount Washington saw wind gusts reach an incredible 161 mph, according to the Mount Washington Observatory. That might sound shocking, but it’s far from the highest wind ever recorded there. The mountain still holds the record for the fastest surface wind speed in the U.S.: an eye-watering 231 mph, set on April 12, 1934. That legendary storm is still known as the “Big Wind.”
Monday’s 161-mph gust wasn’t even close to making the mountain’s all-time top 10—it just barely tied for 19th place. However, it was the strongest wind recorded at Mount Washington in nearly six years, since a massive 171-mph gust hit on February 25, 2019.
For a wind gust to crack the top 10, it would need to hit at least 170 mph. And given the strength of the current weather system, the observatory suggested in a post on X that it might just happen before this storm passes.
Meanwhile, high wind warnings remained in effect across parts of New England through Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. And if the wind alone wasn’t intense enough, consider this—just over two years ago, on February 4, 2023, Mount Washington likely recorded the coldest wind chill in U.S. history: a bone-chilling minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit.
Whether it’s record-breaking winds or brutally cold temperatures, one thing’s for sure—Mount Washington never fails to remind us just how wild nature can be.
