Rochester, MN is the 2nd Windiest City in the US

Who else woke up to the INSANE winds this morning? That was crazy! I know we complain about the wind here quite a bit, but it turns out, we have good reason to. Rochester, MN was ranked as one of the windiest cities in the entire country.

We all know that it's windy practically all the time here, but to be the 2nd windiest in the US was not what I was expecting.

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The Windiest Cities in the US

When I moved to Rochester, I didn't know I was signing up to live in one of the windiest cities in the country... I didn't realize just how windy it was until we had been here a few months and I thought, 'Dang, it's just windy ALL THE TIME.'

Redfin came out with a study of the windiest cities in the US based on average wind speed, and they determined that these are the top 5 windiest cities in the US:

5. Wichita, KS (average wind speed: 11.5 mph)

4. Corpus Christi, TX (average wind speed: 11.7 mph)

3. Lubbock, TX (average wind speed: 12 mph)

2. Rochester, MN (average wind speed: 12 mph)

1. Amarillo, TX (average wind speed: 12.9 mph)

Yeah, we just barely didn't take the top spot. Also, fun fact, our highest wind speed ever recorded was 74 mph in 2019. DANG!

Why Is Chicago Not the Windiest City?

A well-known city slogan is Chicago's 'The Windy City'. So why isn't Chicago on the list? Because that slogan doesn't come from the wind that blows through your hair.

There are two theories as to why Chicago is called The Windy City, according to History.com:

1. Chicago can get big winds from Lake Michigan (but clearly not enough to be named one of the windiest cities in the US).

2. The nickname was "coined in reference to Chicago’s bloviating residents and politicians, who were deemed to be 'full of hot air.'"