Weatherford blows over other Oklahoma cities

WEATHERFORD, Okla. (AP) -- Want to be blown over? Just head to Weatherford. The Custer County town in eastern Oklahoma is the windiest place in the state, according to a study by University of Tulsa

Monday, March 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WEATHERFORD, Okla. (AP) -- Want to be blown over? Just head to Weatherford. The Custer County town in eastern Oklahoma is the windiest place in the state, according to a study by University of Tulsa students.

Winds greater than 10 mph came sweeping down the plains in Weatherford some 278 days last year, which means the town had only 87 calm days, said TU professor Gordon Purser.

"I knew it was windy when I moved here but I had no idea," said Linda Weckel, director of the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce.

Purser's class studied the Oklahoma Mesonet to determine the state's windiest areas. The Mesonet uses 115 units across the state to study climate.

Weatherford had an average wind speed last year of 13.4 mph, the highest in Oklahoma, Purser said.

The state's average is 8.76 mph, according to Oklahoma Mesonet data.

Blowing in the top seven after Weatherford were Cheyenne, Minco, Hobart, Putnam, Goodwell and Boise City.

Cheyenne, in Roger Mills County, had an average wind speed of12.9 mph. Minco, in Grady County, recorded an average 12.4 mph, and Hobart, in Kiowa County, reached an average 12.3 mph.

Putnam, in Dewey County, had an average 12 mph. The study found that 38 out of the 40 windiest places in Oklahoma are west of U.S. 81, said Howard Johnson a climatologist with the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.