Fall is the windiest time of the year as the atmosphere transitions from summer to winter. Wind is the atmosphere’s way of equalizing differences in pressure and temperatures and they blow from high to low pressure: the greater the difference in pressure between the two areas, the stronger the winds.

As we get into fall, storms become more intense and the range in temperatures begins to increase. As a result, the winds crank up.

A perfect example was this past week with record warmth in the Midwest and a powerful storm in the plains. While we were enjoying 70s, the Dakotas were in the 30s with blizzard warnings as winds whipped up to 80mph around the powerful low pressure. The warm winds in SE Wisconsin were from 20-30mph all week as the storm system moved closer and gathered strength. The winds stayed strong through the weekend as the storm moved slowly across the state, and we lost our warmth by Thursday night as the winds shifted to the west and then to the northwest. The winds become lighter this week, but they stay cold keeping highs in the 40s.

Speaking of wind, on this date in 1998 a powerful storm system brought 68mph winds in Milwaukee and up to 93mph in La Crosse . Also today in 1975, a powerful storm sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior with waves up to 15 feet high.